The Moon on Ice
by Luafua
Summary: "As your third seat Captain Hitsugaya, I promise that you aren't going to stand alone anymore..." "Stronger than me? Renji, ya must be a really stupid one." These words were the words that remained in their heads. Even without words, they had already spoken to them... This is a rewrite so please enjoy. Toshiro/OC and Renji/OC, possibly hints of others.
1. Prologue: Accepted

**A/n: Today is the one day of the year that many (maybe) have been waiting for, the day I rewrote this story and changed many things. I'm currently coughing to death, and I realised that I managed to do one thing before I lose this battle with the common cold – post this prologue up. However before I continue, there are things that you should know before reading:**

**This story has the main idea of the previous, but there's a lot of differences that will set apart from the original MoI. I didn't rename the main characters, as much as I wanted to because... I have no idea honestly, it just didn't feel the same.**

**So far, I'm not sure how updating is going to go – depending on how well the reviews go for each chapter and how much time I spent on a certain chapter. So maybe, the chapter updates will be weekly – if I don't post up my other pending story. :D**

**Okay dokey, its time to start before I get rotten tomatoes thrown at me... speaking of which, I'm kinda hungry.**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. **

**WARNING: The first two chapters have Bleach Spoilers from 529 so if you don't want to spoil it... PM me and I'll send you a different version ;) Also – there is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Prologue: Accepted**

Soul Society, a place for the afterlife. When a human dies, they have to be sent by having a technique preformed on them known as Konso to send them in this place. Once there, they will arrive at a place known as Rukongai from one to eighty in all directions. One being the safest and most civilised while eighty being the worst and cruel.

If a resident is lucky enough, they may be able to have the abilities of a shinigami, known as the balancers of the spirit world. After attending to the academy, they will have to work on their abilities which includes the four methods of battle, reiatsu control, hollow extermination duties and most importantly serve under the Gotei thirteen which contains thirteen captains, all of them with outstanding battling abilities and wisdom.

It was the same deal for every new graduate of the shinigami academy; they will wait anxiously until they get what they want.

-:-

"Well what do ya know? She actually graduated." A sly voice observed, the speaker was a man with silver hair, his eyes were narrowed to slits and he had a mocking wide grin on his face. This was Gin Ichimaru, the captain of the third division of the famous Gotei thirteen. Beside the silver haired man, another man stood; who was referred to as Sosuke Aizen, captain of the fifth division. He stood as a mild featured man, with messy brown hair, enhanced by square glasses and chestnut orbs. Light from a small window reflected Aizen's dark, curious orbs as the partners read through two files of grad students from the Shinigami Academy.

"Laria Alfero and Tahani Rosa, I never thought that these two would be paired up within the years in Rukongai…" The man, Aizen mused his smirk widening. "Rosa, the death tiger from Inuzuri and Alfero, the mysterious girl."

"So ya planning to take 'em in ya division?" Gin wondered, looking at one of the files with his grin still intact. "Alfero-chan is just like ya Lieutenant-san, good at Kido, whereas Rosa-san is good at Zanjutsu and Hoho."

Aizen took another look at the forms, his eyes narrowed in deep thought. "I am unsure if she knows who I am, they seem to be both skilful but I cannot allow them in my division, they will expose our plans if we are not careful." And without another word the dark haired captain exited the room. Gin continued to look at the file for a few minutes before he signed and started to sign the paperwork to decline.

"Oh well, they doesn't suit the fifth division." Gin muttered to himself, sneering with delight as he continued to file out the form.

These two particular files went to the only remaining divisions that remained, one of the captains decided to lazily ignore it but the other captain read through one of the files next to his lieutenant.

-:-

"Captain!" The strawberry blonde woman scolded, taking the cup of sake from the older man's hands. "How many times have I told you? You've got to stop drinking above the paperwork! Then it stains the table!"

The mentioned captain turned to face the woman, showing off a sly grin. He snatched the cup from the annoyed woman's hands before he sloshed the cup around on the table purposely, only forcing the strawberry blonde lieutenant to fume. "Rangiku, it's okay! Careful is my middle name-!" His liquid drink spilled over the cup and splashed over the recently signed forms from the lieutenant.

Rangiku Matsumoto's blue eyes darkened with a high hell fury. She had only just finished her paperwork today because her good for nothing captain – _woah_, she was sounding too much like Nanao now. Oh well, she worry about that later. "Captain Shiba, this is why I said for you to not drink on the tables! I wouldn't be lecturing you if you just did your paperwork."

Captain Isshin Shiba was a tall muscular man with spiky black hair and brown eyes. As captain of the tenth division, he wore a standard haori and shihakusho. He grinned innocently, only resulting more frustrated yells from his lieutenant.

A knock on the door silenced both Captain and Lieutenant and they allowed the newcomer to enter the building.

"Captain, I got the paperwork from the Fifth Division – just like you asked." Third seat, Toshiro Hitsugaya stated with his usual frown. He didn't know what was so important about this particular file, but Isshin had pestered him to the point of insanity so he got it to silence the foolish captain. Toshiro was a mere child, with turquoise eyes and short, messy, white hair with a frown always intact.

"Excellent!" Isshin snatched away the single file of a new graduate. "So, Toshiro... are you ready for the good news?"

The third seat and lieutenant eyed watch other briefly before facing the captain. If he ever had children, they feared for the young ones. Isshin proudly showed the file towards the two as if he was a child showing their drawing to their parents.

"I got us a ninth seat!" He grinned excitedly, making the third seat and lieutenant sweat drop. "And I managed to snag her off Captain Aizen!" It had been officially declared that Laria Alfero was accepted in the tenth division.

**_A/n: First chapter is finally posted up... hurray! _**

**_Sorry guys, I haven't really been in my fun like mood lately. Damn cold. _**

**_Anyways, as I mentioned before I haven't got a game plan for the chapter updates, just keep fingers cross and imagine that I'm listening to your telepathy. _**

**_Or... or... you guys don't really like how this is going and decide to leave this story before it devours your soul... muhaha :D Okay, just ignore the randomness. _**

**_So review, follow, favour, or not – I'm just going to be checking my phone for emails. Oh how I miss those emails...Oh quick reminder, I have a cover image – but this laptop was trolling me and not letting it upload, I should have the image on ASAP_**

**_Ciao~_**

**_15/07/13 *Note – the date is on here because I want to record how my updating goes – it simply means that I updated the story (not write the chapter) on this date. Thank you and come again._**


	2. Chapter 1: The Seatings

**A/n: Seriously? Why no reviews?! Well, I guess luck sort of bit me in the ass – on another note, I'm posting up three chapters from three different stories today and today only. I really hope you guys can go check it out. Alrighty then, I'll just start writing this out. Hopefully someone could just be nice enough to review, considering I put a lot of effort into rewriting these chaps. **

**By the way, I hope I wrote past Rangiku okay. I know she wasn't as strict as Nanao but she was still pretty stern with Isshin. After all, she was pissed when she found out that Isshin snuck off to the living world for the second time.**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's.  
**

**WARNING: The first two chapters have Bleach Spoilers from 529 so if you don't want to spoil it... PM me and I'll send you a different version ;) Also – there is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 1: The Seatings**

The day in Soul Society was bright and sunny; this was the kind of day for a family to go out to the park and enjoy a picnic, or a beautiful day to go out to the beach to catch some waves. It is a wonderful, peaceful -

"Captain Shiba!" Rangiku yelled furiously. Life…

Isshin whipped his head towards his lieutenant, blinking in confusion as he looked over to the woman, not a thing was wrong by his book. "What's wrong?" The man wondered blankly. Rangiku hissed under her breath, shutting her eyes in fury as she tried to contain herself.

Toshiro rolled his eyes at the childish behaviour from his captain, "Here they go again..."

"How many times have I told you that sake is not used for celebration of someone gaining a new seat?" The lieutenant growled fiercely, pointing towards the figure who had widened her eyes in the direction of the arguing duo.

She had only joined the day before but she was suddenly called in to her captain's office when he informed her that she has the skills to be a seated officer and Captain Shiba placed a ninth seat on her. The girl was happy that she had worked hard to gain her new seat, succeeding in the studies and classes to reach this far.

She was short, shorter than the third seat and had a young face. Her chocolate brown hair was tied into a low ponytail with bangs covering her forehead, her eyes were notably chestnut brown with a narrow shape to them and her shihakusho was loose with her sleeves barely reaching up to her wrists. The zanpakuto that the girl proudly owned positioned on her back diagonally, attached by a white sash and a crescent shaped clip.

While the lieutenant yelled and captain nagged, the girl thought of what it took to get her sitting in the tenth division barracks. After she had arrived in Soul Society with no recollection of her history she gained only one friend, learning the existence of Shinigami. She and her friend decided to go to the Shinigami Academy, only to graduate into the tenth division six years later.

"Look captain! You scared her so much that you made the girl pale!" Matsumoto exclaimed, pointing at the startled looking girl who was shocked due to the lieutenant suddenly bringing her in the argument. This girl wasn't usually shy, she was just nervous being in the same room as an arguing captain and lieutenant.

"Hey now, leave Laria out of this!" Isshin argued and appeared in front of her with a large grin on his face. "You're just adorable, Laria! You shall now be my daughter!" Before the girl could protest, a pair of muscled arms tightened her in his grip and he raised her in the air like a child before squeezing her into a hug.

"Captain Shiba..." The brunette whimpered quietly, though the larger man was still unaware that Laria was suffocating.

"Captain! Let her go!" Rangiku ordered, whacking Isshin over the head with a sake cup. Laria found herself breathing freely again, jumping away from the captain and standing behind Toshiro just in case he attacked again.

This girl was Laria Alfero – the tenth division's new ninth seat.

Rangiku began another lecture to issue about claiming young girls to be their daughters or something along those lines. Toshiro narrowed his eyes darkly towards Laria before she squeaked unnaturally and stared away. He had such a cold glare for someone who was only a head taller than her.

"Is there any particular reason why you're hiding behind me?" The third seat wondered dryly, raising an annoyed eyebrow to Laria when she met up with his gaze. By looking at his turquoise eyes, there had been a message in his eyes that she couldn't recognise. It felt... melancholy.

"Well... I didn't want the captain to... sort of hug me again..." She responded, realising that since he was the next best thing – he had to put up with the captain and lieutenant more than she did. Laria saw that the third seat's strength was growing... and soon enough it would be better than Rangiku's and maybe even the captain's.

"It's not going to be the last time he picks you up." Toshiro responded, leaving Laria to frown at the arguing duo. She really hoped that Rangiku wasn't completely strict, after all – she seemed like a nice girl when Laria saw her from the distance.

"Toshiro!"

Both third and ninth seat looked over to Isshin who was now sitting back in his chair, scratching his chest lazily. Rangiku huffed in annoyance, before filling out her own paperwork again.

"Could you test our little ninth seat out? I want to see how she goes in a little spar." The captain stated, grinning widely when he saw the annoyed expression in Toshiro's face. Toshiro silently nodded and gave Laria the look to ask her to follow him without questions.

They both walked through the hallways, Laria lowered her head to the ground and focused on her feet. This third seat was so serious! How could someone ever be so stuck up, serious and so emotionless? It was almost as if he was an adult. She shivered nervously when she felt his stare directed to her, making her feel very uncomfortable in the building.

Toshiro continued to stare at Laria with a thought suddenly occurring to him. Her unique name, it certainly wasn't Japanese, however she appeared Japanese. It was odd. "So _Laria _means _the stars are mine_ in Latin right?" He inquired with a frown. The girl blushed nodded quickly before she focused on the ground again. The third seat would've questioned on why she was acting weird but it didn't bother him so much. "So, tell me about some skills you've got… ones that wouldn't be on your file. Captain pretty much shoved the file in my face."

Laria's blush faded and she gazed up to her superior. "Well… I like to analyse my fights, so that I can figure out a way to fight off any enemies, my instructors had said that I could handle paperwork with ease… but my Zanjutsu skills aren't exactly perfect – they were the lowest." She explained sheepishly, looking away at the last point. "I also have loyalty, believing that my work and tasks are more important to me than anything."

Toshiro was taken aback. This girl was so organised, even as a young Shinigami. He narrowed his eyes and stood continued down the path, making Laria frown in confusion. "Captain wanted to test out your skills, follow me to the training grounds." Toshiro muttered quietly just as he walked out of the building. Laria quickly stood on her feet and followed Toshiro to the training grounds.

The training grounds were open; the breeze easily blew and forced the grass to sway. Laria gazed at the outer walls of her barracks, where a few of the subordinates were walking by, waving or bowing in greeting to the third seat. Toshiro brushed them off, ignoring the fact that they are there and mentally pointing out that there was paperwork to do. They gave a look to Laria, frowning at first before they would whisper something with humour to their friends because they would chuckle in agreement.

_I wonder what they are thinking about…_ Laria frowned, as she saw a few more subordinates pass her with a handful of paperwork. She gulped mentally and gave a look around. This was going to be extremely hard work.

Toshiro drew out his blade, letting the steel glisten by the bright light, which signalled Laria to copy his actions. She tightly gripped onto her zanpakuto's black hilt and took in a deep breath.

Just like the final test of the Zanjutsu. She would have told herself, feeling the reiatsu circle the katana and through her fingers which drew in energy from all directions. The difference was that Toshiro was no instructor, he was a third seat and for being a high seated officer that was only just taller than her… it made Laria feel a bit more nervous.

"We are just having a bit of a spar, Alfero without shikai." Toshiro stated, noticing Laria's nervous behaviour. He mentally prayed that Laria wasn't always going to be this nervous, she was going to a ninth seat that took down dangerous hollows and write down nearly everything else that he nor… Rangiku does.

"Alright, Hitsugaya-kun." Laria furrowed her brow and suddenly vanished into thin air, only to reappear behind Toshiro. The third seat found that Laria's movements were much slower than his; she was currently a Shunpo practitioner, then again she only had just become a Shinigami. He blocked Laria's swing, narrowing his eyes in memory that she wasn't that good in Zanjutsu. She jumped back, watching Toshiro with an intense gaze.

He mused to himself, watching Laria with his own interest. She really had skill- that was something he could read. Toshiro suddenly shunpoed out of sight, making Laria widen her eyes, and block a heavy attack that Toshiro had sent towards her. Laria clenched her jaw and tried to push him off, but he was too strong. Without another second to waste, Toshiro took another powerful swing and Laria prepared herself to block the attack. As the blades collided, Toshiro's easily overpowered Laria's sword, forcing it to fly out of the young brunette's hands and land on the ground with a clatter.

Laria straightened her posture while Hitsugaya raised the blade at Laria's neck. She knew what it meant; her third seat was far more skilled than she was, not that she was assuming that she was a lot more powerful that Toshiro himself was.

"I should have been on my guard more." Laria stated, keeping her head low.

"You're not too bad – I admit that you can improve but you are acceptable... that's why Captain Shiba appointed you as the ninth seat." Toshiro explained. Laria widened her eyes and mentally gasped, she felt pathetic when her superior easily acknowledged her skill when she could barely swing a katana.

Toshiro then walked towards Laria's zanpakuto and picked it up, observing the katana's shape. It looked like a normal katana would have looked, a curved, slender single edged blade however the guard had a crescent shape to it and the hilt was black, "This is a well shaped zanpakuto. Good control of the reiatsu." Toshiro admitted before he gave the blade a quick swing, obviously away from Laria.

"Th- thank you Hitsugaya-kun!" Laria stammered. Toshiro gave Laria back her zanpakuto, as she sheathed the blade; he gave a glance over Laria's shoulder his turquoise orbs narrowed, making her inwardly panic, assuming that he was glaring at her.

"Is there something you need Captain Aizen?" Toshiro's voice suddenly turned cold. Laria turned around and widened her eyes at the tall man, recognition sparked in her brain but her mind turned fuzzy. She clutched onto her head slightly and watched the man. There was something about him…

"I just came here, because I wanted to meet the ninth seat that Captain Shiba managed to take from me." Aizen commented, giving a quick glance to Laria, whose heart seemed to quicken once his eyes locked into hers. Not it a good way either. It pounded frantically in her chest, almost in any second that it would explode in fear of the taller captain.

"I don't see why you're so keen on seeing her," Toshiro grumbled while Laria seemed to stay cautious of the man. He didn't seem to be a bad person, but still didn't hurt to keep her guard up. "But this is Laria Alfero, the tenth division's new ninth seat." Aizen's eyebrow seemed to rise as if he took in an interest in the young girl which only made Laria's suspicious nature rise. "Alfero, this is Sosuke Aizen, captain of the fifth division."

Aizen smiled kindly as his eyes flickered from Toshiro to the young Shinigami. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Laria, tensed uneasily as she narrowed her eyes at him. For a moment, this uneasiness settled and she kept a smile on her face.

"Thank you Captain Aizen, this is an honour to meet another captain so early." Laria greeted. Toshiro narrowed his eyes at the taller captain.

"That can't be the full reason why you came here." Toshiro stated, referring to Laria as he resumed glaring at Aizen.

"Of course not, there's to be a captain's meeting in ten minutes and I thought I would just drop by to tell Captain Shiba the message so I can meet Alfero-chan. To see what I missed out on." Aizen clarified. Laria felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment at the mention of her from the taller captain. She was already known by the other captains, it made her feel a bit happier that she was sort of famous.

Toshiro looked at Laria immediately. "If Captain Shiba has to go to this meeting shortly then I will assign you with your first task." Once Toshiro had mention task, Laria's eyes lit up knowing that she wouldn't be bored. "I'm going to stop by the office and let Lieutenant Matsumoto know that you've got to hand in some paperwork to the Eleventh Division. Ask her for any assistance," And without another word, Toshiro walked back into the barracks away from Laria's sight, her face had a small smile.

_I think he's going to be a good shinigami one day, I hope I can help him as much as I can._ The brunette couldn't help but feel admiration from him, he was amazing with his skills. Having someone as skilful as the third seat will help out well. She was so distracted that she had forgotten the presence of Aizen whose shadow seemed to tower over her.

"Alfero-" Aizen started to say when Laria jumped from his words. Her heart beat rapidly picked up pace as she assumed that Aizen had left with Toshiro. "I apologise if I startled you."

Laria lowered her head, ashamed of her jumpy attitude, but at the same time she felt as if it wasn't her fault that a small part of her feared him. "That's alright, I just got startled." She replied quietly.

"Anyways if you want to, I can help you on your Zanjutsu." Aizen offered with a warm smile. Laria widened her eyes and then blinked at the captain.

"Why would you help me? I'm not even from your division, yet you offer me training - training from a captain is something that many would kill for and you want to help me?" Laria stated, as her eyes narrowed defensively about Aizen's offer.

"I understand, however if the reason has to do with my duties as a captain, it will be fine. My lieutenant gets her work done well and she wouldn't mind doing my work." The man explained as Laria gave him a strange look. "I see you not only as a powerful Shinigami in the future, but as my friend."

Laria's eyes widened slightly, she wasn't exactly sure if she was afraid or confused but it did seem to satisfy her. After all, if she were to be receiving the training from a captain… it would mean that she would be stronger for a reason. Laria simply smiled at the brown haired man. "That would be more appreciable."

Aizen kept his smile towards the shorter Shinigami. "I'm glad we can be friends Alfero-chan."

"Me too Captain Aizen," Was all Laria had replied.

-:-

"Oh no, no, no, no." Chuckled a bald man holding a wooden weapon over his shoulder with a wide smirk. "There is no way… no way! That a woman is able to join up in the Zaraki division without having a match with an officer!"

Standing in front of this bald man and a large group of followers, in the spar room was a woman. She had shoulder length raven hair, her bangs were unequal but they were just above her eyebrows. Her distinctive features were her dark midnight blue orbs, matching her pale skin and muscled body. The Shihakusho that she wore was small and revealed the slight curves of her body, the sleeves reaching his the end of her shoulders. Her zanpakuto was tied up to her waist by her left side.

"Why do ya say that?" The woman wondered with a bored expression on her face. She was hungry, she just wanted to eat something, then go sleep after that train… sleep some more. "I obviously was allowed to join in this division otherwise I would have been told so, stupid baldy."

A vein throbbed on the man's shiny head at the mention of the nickname. "Shut up! I wanna take you out right now!" He snapped, pointed the wooden sword towards the woman.

"Bring it on bastard!" The woman barked furiously, threatening to take out her zanpakuto. "Make sure it isn't me wasting my time on some light bulb!"

"What was that?!" Baldy hissed, as he was about to start fighting a large reiatsu entered the air, making everyone stop arguing over pointless things. The men fell silent while the woman was still holding out her blade and grinning widely.

"Maybe I'll take down that guy who just shot out all of that reiatsu." The woman muttered, a smirk forming on her lips. Subordinates from the eleventh division backed away from a large man. He had a scarred face, with a shredded haori, an eye patch covering over his right eye (correct me if I'm wrong), ebony black, spiky and the woman was absolutely sure that he had bells by the tips of his spikes.

"You're a woman." The large man spat as he glared at her with his eye, the woman resisted to roll her eyes and to reply with an obvious statement. "Women are weak, and I can't be bothered fighting something weak." He growled, taking a step closer to the woman making her scowl darkly.

"Ya the Captain Kenpachi Zaraki from Zaraki right? Ya reputation proceeds ya." The woman replied, glaring at the battle scars that the tall man wore over his face. Each one showing off a memory, a memory of a bloody good battle the man in front of her would say. "Maybe ya heard of Tahani Rosa, Chitora of Inuzuri."

Kenpachi's visible eye showed a flash of recognition to the name, before a menacing grin swept over his face. Even a few of the men could recognise her name, and shortly afterwards, face. Excitement rose through the roof for both of them, and they stood across from each other, their reiatsu threatened to spill.

"Alright woman, let's see if you can live with my full strength. If you can cut me, you get a seat." Kenpachi growled, pulling out his jagged blade that craved blood and flesh. The steel brightened out in the dark, as if it hungered for Tahani's flesh.

Tahani actually had to resist from gulping, the blade was jagged and she knew if the steel were to slash her then she might as well prepare herself to be missing a limb. She took out her own blade, the curved, thin shape revealed itself in the light with it. The woman took a comfortable grasp of her light blue hilt as it rested just before the diamond shaped guard. She was ready, more than she would ever be anyways.

"Yachiru, get off!" Kenpachi barked over to his left shoulder. Instantly, a small pink head glanced over to Tahani with a bright smile on her face. Tahani didn't fail to recognise the armband around the girl's arm, which identified her as a lieutenant.

"Eh, I wanted another girl here! But you're gonna kill her! See you Aome*!"

Aome? Tahani blinked in confusion as the girl, Yachiru jumped down from Kenpachi's shoulder and beside the bald man. The man gave a look of pride to the opponent in front of Tahani, she knew she had to be careful.

_Alright!_ Tahani thought to herself, rushing towards Kenpachi in swift speeds. She leaped into the air, taking her katana to slash him but the jagged blade blocked her path from cutting him. Even though she remained trying to push him, he was holding her back with one arm.

"You're fast." Kenpachi stated, reaching out to grab his own eye patch. "But speed will not cut me. And if you can't cut me then you're weak." The man growled just as he torn off the black material. Tahani had feared to see the scarred eye, however as she saw the uninjured eye reveal itself in the light, Kenpachi's reiatsu skyrocketed.

"What the?" Tahani muttered as Kenpachi pushed her off with ease. She flew back onto the ground, sliding through the wooden floor as she scowled at her opponent. Kenpachi started to charge towards Tahani, but her blade blocked his own this time.

The subordinates now well forgotten were staring in shock at the power while Yachiru giggled in the background. She was the only one that knew that the two were both having fun, well except for Baldy beside her anyways.

Tahani smirked, raising one of her feet in the air to strike the man's stomach, making him nearly lose his footing as she jumped back and held her katana horizontally. Kenpachi showed some surprise that the woman was able to catch him off guard so suddenly. He charged again, with the bloodlust flooding through him widely.

"Hunt 'em down, Aisutaiga!*" Tahani called out, as the katana glowed bright blue before slowly dividing into two daggers. They had sharp edges, with two points extended from both while the hilt of both blades turned dark blue and it lose its guard.

Kenpachi observed the daggers and chuckled as he ran. "Do you plan to cut me with butter knifes?" He sneered just as he brought his blade down, but it was so easily blocked by the duo daggers.

"Don't ever lower ya guard, even if ya have a bigger chance of winning." Tahani warned, she forcibly pushed the blade from her block, smirking widely. Kenpachi didn't resist trying to hide his wild look in his eyes as he tried to attack Tahani, she tried to strike the blades back at him. The metals clashed, but Tahani was the one who was caught on the impact. She flew through the wall, creating a decent sized hole through the wall as the remaining chunks of wood buried the woman.

Kenpachi looked at the hole that he had made from attacking the girl. "Ah crap, the old fart is going to force me to pay for this." He growled and then turned to the members who were gawping from the fight. "Yachiru, gimme my patch back, this fight's over." He muttered giving a quick glance to the hole and then back at Yachiru. Yachiru smiled and passed him the eye patch cheerfully. As he placed the eye patch back on, there was a threatening spill from the reiatsu of Tahani's. She pushed the entire broken wall off her, as she stood up she glared at Kenpachi with minor injuries and bruises as she clutched onto her daggers.

"I'm not done yet." The raven-haired woman panted as her midnight orbs burned furiously. Kenpachi gazed at the female Shinigami then he sheathed his blade, giving a glare towards the woman.

"You're done, and I don't bother fighting half dead people." Kenpachi stated as he lifted his arm and revealed the fresh thin scar that went through his forearm blood faintly dripping from the wound. "You are strong, but not strong enough… get strong then fight me, Seventh seat." He muttered before walking away from Tahani.

_He put me a seventh seat?_ Tahani thought happily, her smile widened in deep thought. It was either that she wasn't strong enough to obtain any of the higher seats or that there were already men with higher seats then her.

"You're tougher than you look." The bald man stated next to Yachiru, she gave him a playful glare before she leaped from the ground to jump on Tahani's head.

"What ya doing?!" Tahani yelled to the girl that was giggling while on her head, though Tahani couldn't deny that Yachiru was exceedingly light. It just surprised her that the girl hopped onto her head so calmly.

"Aome! You are so cool! Ken-chan had lots of fun!" The girl sang happily before hopping down onto the wooden floor with a wide beam. "Baldy thought that you would die! So now he owes me candy!" She chattered while Tahani sweat dropped. Wasn't she the one that said that Tahani was going to die? The bald man's head started to throb with veins.

"You stupid brat! I am not bald!" He snapped, threatening to take out his zanpakuto at the laughing girl. "Enough with those damn nicknames already!"

"I'm going to tell Byakkun that you are a meanie!" Yachiru declared with an angry pout before she sped out of the barracks, leaving Tahani and Baldy on their own.

"I'm Tahani Rosa." Tahani introduced herself with a bored expression. She hadn't really had a chance to give out her name to the man. The woman should at least give him a bit of a chance.

"Ikkaku Madarame third seat of the Zaraki Squad." The bald man replied with a smirk across his face. "I thought you wouldn't have survived five seconds." He continued.

"Wow, thanks for the honesty." Tahani replied sarcastically.

"Well new girl, that was a terribly disgusting way to fight, you're lucky that Iba had taken the Fourth Seat, because it would suit your ugly style." Added an extra voice, Tahani looked over in the direction of the voice. A male with short black hair, light lavender eyes that seemed to wear fake feathers approached them. His Shinigami uniform was nearly normal except for the orange turtleneck that he wore.

"Who's this?" Tahani wondered blankly, jerking a thumb to the pretty boy.

"Fifth seat Yumichika Ayasegawa, most beautiful member in the squad." The stranger flicked his hand through his hair, making Tahani want to puke.

The way the fifth seat spoke to Tahani was infuriating. It was lucky for the pretty boy that he had had more experience than her; otherwise she would have him in a head lock. Tahani simply folded her arms and scoffed at him. Just as she was about to snap a fierce retort at Yumichika, Ikkaku easily whacked the girl lightly above the head.

"What the hell was that for?!" Tahani growled with a vein throbbing on her forehead. Ikkaku rolled his eyes and turned around.

"For being an idiot," the third seat explained. Tahani was going to yell at him when he shot glares at her, keeping her quiet. "I've got to meet someone from the tenth division to get some paperwork, you should come. On our way, you might meet our sixth seat." the bald man muttered.

Tahani didn't object, she fell silent and followed Ikkaku out of the dojo, her short black hair, falling into place every time that the girl moved. But a thought did occur in her mind. _There's a lot of seated officers._

-:-

Laria held the paperwork as she nervously went through the eleventh squad. Most of the members had weird haircuts and they all smelt like sweat and blood. As she passed through the near empty streets, the men nearby scoffed at her or they had commented about her height which made Laria's blood boil. She obtained ninth seat despite of her small height, she doubted that they could do any better.

_Matsumoto-san did say that Madarame-san was bald and loud, but all these guys look like they want to tear my throat opened._ Laria thought to herself, gulping down her slight fear. She continued to walk down the path, her eyes searching for a 'loud and bald man' before she felt a familiar presence. The small Shinigami paused, just as she was about to turn around, two arms suddenly hauled Laria into a bear hug. Laria felt like she couldn't breathe, dropping the papers to the ground, she tried squirming out of the grip, hoping that once she would escape she could put the attacker in a head lock.

"Hi Laria!" A familiar female voice screeched. Laria recognised the voice instantly, but she never wanted to stay in the vice grip that held onto her.

"Get off Tahani." Laria whined as she continued to try to escape the hug that the taller girl gave her. Laria finally broke out of the grip and turned to face Tahani, standing next to a bald man who by judging Rangiku's description was Ikkaku. Laria quickly picked up the pages and stood back up, looking at the man. The bald third seat had a confused expression on his face, possibly by Tahani's actions.

"Who are you Runt?" The bald man asked with a raised eyebrow. Laria's face formed a dark scowl, almost pulling off a snarl as she did so but her expression changed the next moment she remembered that she needed to be the grown up for once.

"Madarame-san?" The brunette assumed with a questioning stare. Ikkaku nodded his head, but he still looked like he was going to get his zanpakuto out and attack Laria. "I'm Laria Alfero, ninth seat of the tenth division and I was sent here to deliver these papers for you." Laria handed out the paper to the third seat. Ikkaku accepted them with a groan and gave a short glance to Laria.

"Alright Runt, Rosa, I'm off." Ikkaku started to walk away with the pages in his arms, leaving Tahani and Laria alone.

"So you got ninth seat? Impressive." Tahani complimented, ruffling Laria's hair. Laria growled at Tahani for touching her hair before fixing it up.

"Why what are you?" Laria glowered.

"Seventh seat, there goes my dream of being a lieutenant." Tahani grumbled, glaring at the sky in annoyance.

"You got into the eleventh squad, isn't that good enough?" Laria told. Tahani glance at Laria with a calm face, then she faced the sky again.

"Good point." Tahani realised.

"Holy crap. It's you two."

Tahani and Laria raised their glances, hearing the new voice echo through their ears before they widened their eyes. A man with crimson hair was tied up in a ponytail, resembling a pineapple. His tribal tattoos went from his face down to under his Shinigami uniform. His russet eyes were widened but not as wide as both Tahani and Laria.

"Stupid pineapple?" Tahani gaped, her midnight orbs widening in horror at the sight in front of her. She really wasn't excepting this, of all things – well to be more précised, she wasn't really expecting to see this man in this division, out of all thirteen divisions.

"Annoying Blueberry?" The man replied in the same questioning tone. They both pointed at each other before crying out in shock. Laria looked between the taller people, her brow crinkling together in a disappointed frown.

"What are you doing here Renji Abarai?" Laria wondered. Renji shot a glare to the curious Laria, and then scoffed. Tahani looked at Laria with her brow furrowed in puzzlement, then started to scowl at Renji.

"I'm the sixth seat of this division, what are you doing here?" The man hissed. Tahani's eyes went wider, if it was even possible.

He was sixth seat? He was stronger than Tahani? Tahani wanted to spit in frustration; there was no way that this idiot could have even gained a seat. "I'm here because this is my division now." The raven haired woman explained slowly, as if she was talking to a child. Her eyes caught notice on a familiar glint, before they focused on a sheathed weapon. "So ya managed to find ya zanpakuto?" Tahani observed with a smirk, making Renji give a look of confusion then clutched onto the hilt protectively. "Next time, I should hide it somewhere that isn't so easy."

"Are you stupid or something?! Zabimaru is a part of me!" Renji explained, putting a hand to his chest dramatically. "I could never lose Zabimaru that easily."

Tahani couldn't help but smirk wider but she didn't really care. After all, this guy who stood in front of them was loud, stubborn and he was really annoying. "I can't believe this, I'll see ya later Laria." Tahani waved before she walked back from the way she arrived. Renji glanced back at Laria as he watched her wave slightly to her friend.

"How can you be friends with her? She's loud, stubborn and she's really annoying." Renji wondered. Laria glared at Renji, she didn't mind the red headed guy unlike Tahani. But if he said something about Tahani, it was a different story.

"Abarai-san, I will only tell you this once." The short brunette muttered slowly, turning to face him with a deadly look. "Don't speak of Tahani like that in front of me… _Ever_."

Renji barely repressed a shiver down his spine at the tone of Laria's warning tone. For someone so small, she could possess the glare of his desired opponent. "So you didn't tell her that you gave me Zabimaru back?"

"I didn't tell her for a number of reasons." Laria replied, lowering her eyes away as she shifted back into a shy young girl.

"And I assume you didn't tell her that it was me that suggested that you should become a Shinigami." Renji reminded. The look on Laria's face was obvious – that she didn't want the truth to be let out by someone like him. She didn't want Tahani to think that he pressured her into becoming a Shinigami or something.

"Tahani came on her own free will; she wanted to come with me because she had promised to look after me." Laria implied, slowly turning back to face the opposite direction. "I apologise Abarai-san, but I have work to do. I must be going."

**I will be honest to say that I'm not sure if Toshiro would've been 'Third seat Hitsugaya to you,' back then however I've decided to make him more likely to scold an unseated officer more than a seated officer because he didn't scold Rangiku despite the fact that she has the higher rank or when she pulled his cheeks. **

**_*Aome - Blue woman, Yachiru observes that Tahani has midnight blue orbs, noticing that her hilt of her zanpakuto was light blue, and changes midnight blue when in Shikai I changed it from Tani to Aome because Tani-sama is something that Tahani hates being called and Tani is relatively close. _**

**_**Aisutaiga - Ice Tiger, but if you read the previous version you would know that… for those that don't, Aisutaiga is based on two daggers with two extra points. Think of Raphael the ninja turtle's design but more of a blade.  
_**

**_22/07/2012* Happy birthday me! And also happy birthday for Ichigo last week :D I guess I forgot... stupid cold _**


	3. Chapter 2:Enter, the Prisoner

**A/n: Wow... that was a bit of a jump of reviews. Thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites. I think I was being a bit rude last week for requesting reviews... I think I was just cranky because I had a job interview and I was stressing about that, didn't really get to go to Nandos for my birthday and everyone was trying to get me to drink. People out there who know me but don't read fanfiction, just because I'm eighteen now it doesn't mean that I'm going to be drinking gallons of vodka. That's my brother.  
**

**Sorry, I've been... a bit off lately. I was originally going to post for Hidden World but when I was writing the chapter, I was trying to decide how to write it out. MoI came to me quicker because its a rewrite... oh well, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's.  
**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 2: Enter, the Prisoner **

**_*Thirty-five years later*_**

Clash.

Clash.

"Whoa!" The watchers gasped as the wind blew roughly and the third seat appeared in sight. Her smooth brown hair was no longer in its ponytail and blowing thoroughly behind her shoulders; the young bangs tickled her bare forehead. Laria's chestnut orbs narrowed, but then she suddenly raised the blade and blocked another clash from the fifth division captain.

She furrowed her brow and tried to push Aizen down, but the captain had much more experience than she did, easily rejecting her back into the air. The short brunette panted in the air, and cried out seriously when her reiatsu shot up to charge once again at Aizen.

As Aizen prepared himself to block, Laria disappeared into thin air only to reappear behind the captain. He apparently saw this early, because he was already swinging his zanpakuto towards her. The brunette widened her eyes, and shunpoed out of sight before Aizen managed to take a nasty swing at her and distanced herself away.

Aizen gave a look towards Laria observing her movement with his dark eyes, "Keeping distance will not help you."

Laria didn't respond, she simply charged again as she tried to attack Aizen, letting out a war cry as her blade neared his. The sound of metal collided, echoing deep in her eardrums, as she furrowed her brow into a scowl. She prepared herself to another attack, but the captain was too quick for her, easily storing his reiatsu in the next blow, making her fly back a few metres and keep an intense glare.

The Fifth division Captain nodded to himself before he stepped onto the ground, signalling that their sparring session was over as he sheathed his weapon away. Laria couldn't deny that she was improving on her skills since the training of the captain. Though she was still mystified on why he had offered _her_ of all people training. It was like he knew her from someone or something along those lines.

"You have improved, Alfero-chan." Aizen had complimented, approaching the short brunette as he pet her head in acknowledgement. She managed to stop herself from childishly smiling at her own improvement. "It is no wonder that Captain Hitsugaya-kun has promoted you to his third seat." Ever since the previous captain had mysteriously disappeared after heading to the world of the living with no liable excuse– Toshiro took over as the captain of the tenth division and life began to change.

During the years of training, Laria managed to improve on her skills of Zanjutsu and Kido, however her Kido skills were the only skills that magnificently developed. Since Laria had proven herself worthy by filling out her paperwork on due time, and managed to get stronger, Toshiro had appointed her as a Third Seat a month previously. The brunette shivered when she remembered that Tahani had hugged her and crushed the life out of her.

Laria felt herself glance at her blade; it almost shined from its own reflection. "Thank you Captain Aizen, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have improved at all – however I still need to work on Zanjutsu." She stopped for a brief moment, sheathing her zanpakuto away as she narrowed her eyes. "But I'm worried for when I'm at my limit, I won't be able to get any stronger."

Aizen silently stared at the brunette, pulling his hand away from Laria as he smiled warmly. As always, his hand was gentle and caring as if he was touching a delicate figure. It made Laria feel good on the inside, she adored the way Aizen had treated her even though she wasn't in his division, "Alfero-chan… what would happen if I knew how to break that limit?" He asked quietly, making the Alfero widen her eyes at the thought.

What would happen? Laria would go to Aizen and find out that way of breaking her limit. She wants to keep improving, in order to become strong to protect the innocent lives of Rukongai. They had struggled a lot in the past; it would only be fair if they had an acceptable afterlife. The brunette inwardly shook her head in denial. "It's impossible. Though I would try my best at improving my skills, because I will never get to my limit if there's a lot to learn from."

Aizen let out another warm smile, closing his eyes as he let out a grin. "Of course, I was only saying. I must be going now; I need to help Hinamori-kun on the extra paperwork about the prisoner."

Prisoner? Laria wanted to question more about this so called prisoner, however she held back her tongue and nodded in approval, "Alright Captain Aizen, thank you for your time." With that second, Aizen shunpoed out of her sight, leaving Laria alone once again with the watchers going back to their business. She snorted silently to herself – they shouldn't be sticking their noses in another's business anyways.

The third seat took a strange look towards the sky, before walking calmly towards the barracks where she was to meet her captain. Just as she appeared behind the door of the captain's offices, she shivered from the cold before quickly realising that Toshiro was arguing with Rangiku… _again._

Something in the lieutenant changed after their captain disappeared twenty years ago. It was like she transformed into him, her laziness was starting to take a toll in her work.

_"Matsumoto! Get up and do your paperwork!"_ The captain snapped from behind the door. Laria raised an eyebrow silently, trying to conclude on the reason of Rangiku's laziness. Maybe it had rubbed onto her from the previous captain. With a frown, Laria prayed that the laziness didn't rub onto her; there was so much work to do for slackness, especially now that she has stepped up to becoming a third seated officer.

_"Cap'ain... wan some?"_ a female voice slurred. Laria sighed to herself, more in exhaustion than annoyance. Another normal day.

_"Are you drunk again?"_ Toshiro questioned, stress piled on his voice. Rangiku only replied in giggles and hiccups, which made Toshiro growl at his lieutenant. Laria was about to let her knuckles bang on the door when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Good morning, Laria-chan!"

Instantly recognising the voice, Laria turned to see a tall figure tower over her with a wide grin. He had messy black hair that went to his earlobes, stormy greys eyes that lightened up his cracked grin. To prevent his hair from covering his eyes, he used a black headband to cover his forehead. His shihakusho naturally loose and reaching above his elbows and down on his feet. Like most men that Laria knew, this man towered over her with no problem. "Aoki-san, it's the afternoon."

The new figure scratched the back of his head and started to laugh out nervously, "Really now? I must've overslept again!" He cackled, before he realised on what the third seat had called him. "Now, Laria-chan! Why do you keep calling me Aoki when I insist you to call me Hozumi?"

"It is merely a matter of respect." Laria replied quietly, narrowing her eyes as she stared up at him, "Is there any practical reason why you are calling me out? I've got to talk to Captain Hitsugaya about my task."

Hozumi Aoki smirked to himself with pride. "We got a mission together, Laria-chan! About taking out some hollow in the Rukongai districts – it shouldn't be too much of an effort."

The shorter female sighed quietly, spinning on her heel and walking towards the exit of the barracks. "Then lead on Aoki-san, if Captain Hitsugaya wants us to complete this task then it should be no problem with your help." Truth be told Hozumi could have easily taken over Laria's position. He has been a part of the tenth division for at least a century now, he had rather impressive Zanjutsu and Hakuda skills. This man knew the name of his zanpakuto, but he never really used it... apparently it was a big deal to him if he released his weapon. The only problem was, that he barely did his own paperwork and he wouldn't have seemed fit to do so.

"Why are you so serious all the time?" Hozumi groaned, raising the sheath of his zanpakuto above his shoulder as he lazily strolled next to Laria. She silently walked on, ignoring the whines from her fellow subordinate, "You act like this is going to be a tough levelled hollow."

"Considering that you were sent with me to deal with this hollow, we can safely assume that it is no pushover." Laria responded, unconsciously fiddling with her sash. It had always been some sort of comfort for her whenever she clutched onto the white fabric, almost as if it was going to give her luck. Unfortunately, Soul Society did not depend on luck – it depended on success, and strength.

"I wish you didn't have to kill all the fun Laria-chan..." The male pouted playfully, watching keenly as Laria sent him a dark glare. "I wonder what would've happened if Tahani-chan never found you." At the mention of the words, Laria narrowed her eyes coldly and her feet halted her movements. He knew she hated it when he mentioned the past to her, but the fool had did it anyways. Hozumi stopped a metre ahead of her and gave Laria a curious look, taking in her dark glares with a shiver.

"I wish to not continue this conversation, Aoki-san." She commented, unaware that she still had a hold to her ivory coloured sash just as she continued walking.

-:-

Hozumi Aoki wasn't some distressed soul from the far off districts like Laria and Tahani were. No, they were from Inuzuri, and rumours had told him that as the Chitora, Tahani was no cuddly panda. She could've been one of the most vicious people out there until she met Laria Alfero. Unlike the duo, Hozumi had originated from the Aoki Clan.

They were a noble family, but one of the lesser clans. He had been the only son born into his family for that generation, and his parents had tried to arrange Hozumi to be a beneficial Head. However Hozumi didn't want anything to do with his clan. His wish was to live a standard life and enjoy it while he was alive. He remembered his parents being furious with him, and kept forcing him into working with his clan, but Hozumi stubbornly protested. The final straw was the fact that he refused to get married. After all, why marry one woman when you can have over a hundred loving you?

Hozumi remembered his parents picking out suitors for his younger sisters, before they told him to do as he wished but he had to do something with his life because they weren't going to support him anymore. The only option was to become a shinigami, in order to get his pay and live his life to the fullest. Ever since then, Hozumi hasn't gotten along with his parents since they wanted nothing to do with him, but secretly the man only wished for his parents' attention. The only ones that knew of his nobility was Captain Hitsugaya and the sixth division captain Byakuya Kuchiki, he tried not letting anyone else know though.

Anyways, he was astounded when he and Laria approached the Southern Rukongai around the mid-fifties. He knew that the conditions only worsened as they reached further away from Seireitei but he didn't expect them to be this bad. His grey eyes flickered to Laria, who gazed around the buildings with hard eyes. If the conditions were highly unacceptable to living standards were at this point, then Hozumi feared to see Laria's old home.

"We're at District fifty-four," Laria announce coolly, sparing a glance towards Hozumi. "Isn't the hollow meant to be here?"

Only a few people had chosen to roam around the streets warily. Most of them were more cautious of Laria and Hozumi, since they were shinigami with zanpakuto that could strike if they wanted to and the villagers couldn't do anything about it. Other than that, people were desperately trying to sell water, or any sorts of food to the ones that needed it so that they could get money.

Hozumi widened his eyes for a fraction, before he straightened himself up professionally, drawing his eyes away from the people. "Yes, the Hollow is apparently meant to be here..." He trailed off, drawing his brow together into a confused frown, "Did they manage to kill it?" The answer came to him, almost instantly – the district has been having this hollow on their tails for almost a month now before they filed it in.

"That is not possible." Laria responded, sheathing out her blade. The ground suddenly shook from their feet, making Laria narrow her eyes in concentration. "I knew it. A hollow would never miss a chance to eat two Shinigami." Inhabitants cried out in fright, before they ducked for cover in homes or anywhere that appeared to be safe.

Hozumi watched as a large figure suddenly jumped into sight, landing roughly in front of the duo. He watched as the four legged creature pushed itself onto its hind legs, with dark green skin and a white serpent-like mask.

"A Giant Hollow?" He asked out loud, shivering as the creature hissed out with its bright, soulless orbs piercing him. It decided that he was the first victim, considering that he was the one that spoke up first.

"Aoki-san, you can distract the hollow – I'll beat it down."

"No problem Laria-chan," Hozumi nodded stiffly and brought out his own weapon. His zanpakuto was rather plain, though the guard had teeth like markings scripted in the small rectangle. The third seat narrowed her eyes and ran around the hollow, briefly catching its attention.

It let a loose growl, following Laria just as she ran from the hollow. She grunted in annoyance and sent her partner a dark glare that basically told him to get on with the distracting part, which made Hozumi smirk.

"Hey Snakey-chan!" Hozumi called out, picking up a rock that could just fit in his hand before he pegged it at the back of the hollow's head. The creature had turned hearing Hozumi's voice, flinching in pure annoyance as it felt the rock bounce on its mask. He kept his smirk when it howled furiously in his direction, crouching back onto four legs and stalking the male shinigami. "Thata boy..." Raising his zanpakuto in the air, he quickly dashed towards it to aim for its head but the hollow was swift; trapping Hozumi with its clawed hands.

If he were to pull back, then the hollow would badly cut him but Hozumi wasn't sure if he could hold onto the hollow. In the corner of his eyes, the hollow was lunging towards Hozumi's side with its other hand, and he wasn't able to defend himself. Hozumi shut his eyes as he gritted his teeth together, waiting for the impact.

"Hado thirty-one: Shakkaho!"

The weight lifted off Hozumi as the hollow reared back, whipping its body around to see that Laria held onto her zanpakuto with one of her hands while the other hand was outstretched. She narrowed her eyes sternly at the hollow, her expression never changed as the hollow opened its jaw to roar in her direction. As it turned to face the third seat, Hozumi saw the burns from Laria's Kido in the centre of its back

That was his opening; Hozumi charged while the hollow's back was turned and plunged his blade into its back. An ear-splitting yelp came from the hollow, making Hozumi cringe from the very thing that might make him deaf before he departed. Somehow, the creature managed to hurl Hozumi into the air with the blade still stuck into its back, making Hozumi crash into the ground with a blurry vision. He shook his head with exhaustion, but kept his eyes on Laria as she rest both of her hands of the black hilt of her blade. Recognition took over, as his grey orbs slightly widened in astonishment.

_Is she going to-?_

Then ever so quietly, Laria whispered, "Reflect your light, Tsuki okami*." The zanpakuto lightened up with her reiatsu, glowing momentarily just as the blade of the katana turned white and divided into two. Her eyes focused on the blades, just as a white and black energy managed to coat both of the blades.

The hollow seemed to have notice the attacks because it suddenly struck towards Laria but she had already jumped over the hollow with a dark stare. It was too slow in turning around, because Laria had already raised both swords in front of her with the aura flickering wildly.

"You are too late." She muttered, swinging down both of the swords to send the energy waves straight towards them, "Tsukisofu**."

Hozumi's eyes widened with astonishment as the attack collided with the hollow's face, splitting it wide open as the energy made its way through. He heard the defeated whimpers, flinching as the hollow crumbled to the ground and started to dissolve in a revolting way. Hozumi's zanpakuto fell to the ground with a loud clatter as the hollow completely vanished.

"Wow..." The male breathed out, grinning widely as Laria returned her zanpakuto into its seal form and gave an annoyed stare towards him. He hasn't been on many missions with Laria, despite of their friendship and he often doesn't see Laria release Tsuki Okami.

Ever.

It wasn't that she was trying to show off; Laria didn't use her zanpakuto often because she was better with kido. This hollow had been challenging if Laria had to resort to using her zanpakuto. Tsuki okami was the most mysterious zanpakuto in Soul Society, even Laria, the owner of Tsuki okami was baffled by her own weapon. Before Hozumi could say anything to thank the third seat, Laria stiffly turned around and started to walk back towards Seireitei.

"We need to head back to fill out the paperwork for Captain Hitsugaya." Laria smoothed out her clothing and headed outwards.

Hozumi cried comically, dropping his head in pure anguish. It was as if she was created from the short white haired captain. They would need to use shunpo... again just to meet up. To him, using shunpo daily was getting on his nerves. With a sigh Hozumi picked up his blade, quickly observing it with a frown before he returned his weapon into his sheath.

Why did Laria even have an interest in a runt anyways?

-:-

Back at Seireitei, Toshiro Hitsugaya scowled as he made a mistake on the paperwork. He couldn't help but shake off the feeling that someone was insulting his height again. Writing a small reminder to give Aoki a slight raise for going out with Alfero to take out the hollow a few hours ago, he suddenly remembered the pile that he had layered out for her.

Unlike Matsumoto, who had decided to claim the couch as her new drooling pillow and fall asleep on it while she was drunk, Alfero was trying to help out in any way she could. Now that he promoted her to third seat, he sees her more often to come in and help with Matsumoto's paperwork, including times where she was meant to have her days off.

He assumed that he would be seeing Alfero shortly after their hollow hunt to fill out the file. With a shake of his head to dismiss his thoughts on the third seat, Toshiro decided to continue his work to lightly ignore the mistake and continue.

A vein throbbed on his head when he heard a loud snort from his busty lieutenant, flinching at the sudden surprise and making another mistake on the paper. As a captain, Hitsugaya made sure that he had to follow the rules that the Head Captain had enforced – one of them which included 'No Bankai' policy when cleaning. But sometimes, he simply tried to find loopholes to allow himself to use bankai in a rage of Matsumoto, such as lack of responsibility.

Hearing another snort from Matsumoto made him flinch, with his eyes shadowing over in a high hell fury. He reached out for Hyorinmaru but a sudden loud knock made him stop, in which he gave a glare towards the door for interrupting him.

"Come in." The words came automatically as the wooden door slid open, revealing Laria Alfero with a calm stare. Hozumi Aoki sent a friendly grin towards him, but it didn't faze Hitsugaya for the least. "Alfero, Aoki... I take it that you succeeded in exterminating that hollow?"

Alfero nodded quietly, furrowing her brows together into an annoyed stare towards Matsumoto. "Yes, we managed to get rid of it and we're going to file the report now."

Hitsugaya found himself standing, pausing the girl with her companion. "Wait." He cursed to himself silently in his head for doing such a rash action, "You have your own paperwork to hand to the eleventh division. Aoki is in charge of the paperwork he is assigned to." Sending the unseated officer a frozen stare, Aoki gave a sheepish grin.

"But Captain Hitsugaya-!" The man was cut off when Alfero stomped onto his foot impatiently, making him yelp out in distress. When she pulled her foot away, Aoki pulled his arms behind his back and smiled with watery grey eyes. Witnessing the actions, Hitsugaya reframed himself from scoffing at the immaturity from the tall male. "I can catch up to my sake drinking later then!"

Hitsugaya sent a grateful nod to Alfero, watching as her cheeks turned light pink. Was she sick? No, it must have to do with that flattery she gets occasionally. He slid the small pile of paperwork towards Alfero and she took the pile with a faint smile.

"I'll return when I can, Captain." Alfero bowed her head lightly just as she slowly walked out of the office, leaving him alone with Aoki and the snoring Matsumoto. The silence was nearly awkward for the captain and his unseated officer but it only got worse when Hitsugaya decided to continue his paperwork.

"So... uh captain, I've gotta run now-"

"You're doing that paperwork if you want your payment Aoki." Hitsugaya grumbled, continuing on with his work which made Aoki quickly take in his paperwork and leave the office. Even though that man was an absolute idiot, nothing got through to him better than blackmail.

-:-

For the millionth time that minute, Laria scolded herself for blushing so childishly in front of the captain. It had nothing to do with work, and she's had an admiration for him for as long as she could remember. Her situation got worse when Hozumi or Tahani would tease her about it, saying something about a crush. How could they be the adults in the situation anyways?

Speaking of Tahani...

She apparently came back from the world of the living today, about sending out a group from her division to hunt some hollows. Now that she was back, the one thing Laria could only guess what she was doing at that moment – sparring with the men that challenged her new seating.

It took years for Tahani to train until her muscles torn, but she managed to take the fourth seat after Tetsuzaemon Iba had left his position to become a lieutenant of the seventh division. She was smug about the position, even going as far to mocking Renji Abarai for it, and it infuriated him no less. That was before he was promoted to lieutenant of the sixth division. Laria remembered that Tahani had locked herself in her room, permanently ashamed of being bested by 'the stupid pineapple'.

Entering the barracks, Laria furrowed her brow when she noticed that a man flew past her and out of the door, with Ikkaku smirking with glee. At first, Laria suspected that the third seat had used his zanpakuto to fight but instantly relaxed when she noticed the wooden bokken in his hands.

"That was too easy!" He jeered, rewarding himself with some sort of weird dance. Laria had waited a few more moments, watching with little muse as Ikkaku pushed himself off the guard and balancing on the bokken. Eventually, she cleared her throat to catch his attention, in which it did.. His narrow eyes peered at the small stack in her arms, not even hiding his disappointed groan as he landed back on his feet. "You here to give us the paperwork, Runt?"

The smaller third seat sent Ikkaku a nasty glare. For as long as she can remember, Ikkaku had not bothered to remember her name and started to dub her as 'Runt'. No matter how many times she had corrected him, he still reminded Laria that she was short. In an angry outburst, she roughly shoved the paperwork into Ikkaku's arms, lowly growling at his unamused grunt.

"I must leave now before Tahani-"

A loud cheer erupted from the entry, and Laria didn't even have to turn around to know that it was Tahani. Her coy smirk widened as her midnight orbs took an interest to Laria, holding onto the zanpakuto as if her life depended on it and jogged towards the two third seats. The shoulder length hair that she had previously was cut short to reach the nape of her neck. "Jeez Laria, working ya self to death as always with that bloody paperwork... hasn't Hozumi taught ya to go out for a bit?"

A vein throbbed on Laria's forehead, clearly annoyed that Tahani was trying to convince Laria once again that she should get out more often. "If you realise how much work we have to do back in the tenth division, you wouldn't have said anything. Then again, who knows how much paperwork that you have hidden in this place..."

The raven haired woman let out a chuckle as she scratched the back of her head. At first Laria's eyes narrowed suspiciously before Tahani placed a hand on Laria's head.

"It seems that ya've just come back to torment me about paperwork Ria-chan!"

Laria's forehead suddenly revealed a thick, clear vein. "Tahani..." She warned in a hushed toned, chestnut eyes darkening as she glared at the taller woman. "I am Laria! It isn't hard calling me by my name!" Her hand swatted Tahani's away, resulting the fourth seat to let out a wicked grin.

Tahani snorted at Laria, ignoring the cold glare that was directed at her. "You're still touchy about that... Jeez, no wonder you don't know how to smile."

Laria opened her mouth to snap, but she narrowed her eyes at the sight of a new figure, bringing himself into view. She furrowed her brow into a stern scowl, noticing that Tahani had also stopped grinning to glare at the new figure. Ikkaku scoffed, lifting the bokken above his shoulder.

"I was wondering why I felt that it was disturbing today." Yumichika announced his presence at the entrance of the dojo, running a hand through his dark hair. "Rosa, you're disgusting way of arriving just revolts me."

Tahani's throat let out an unnatural hiss, "Shut up ya stupid pretty boy. The way ya chatting to people here is disgusting!" She retorted, as Laria and Ikkaku stood next to each other with deadpanned expressions. They both assumed it couldn't get any worse.

"How dare you insult my gifted beauty?"

"Just acting like some wussy girl is an insult to us!"

Cue dramatic gasp from the male.

"Take that back, Rosa!"

"In ya fugly dreams, stupid pretty boy!"

The next second, Ikkaku slammed his bokken against Tahani's head which resulted her into slamming into the ground with a large swell forming.

"Shut up Rosa, the both of you are annoying as hell!" He scoffed at the sound of Tahani's moans, turning away almost immediately. "Let's go, Yumichika." Yumichika seemed to smirk with pride when he saw Tahani on the ground, before he left with Ikkaku which made Laria stand alone next to Tahani.

"Well, I should get going..." Laria announced, turning away from the fallen fourth seat. She had clenched onto the sides of her hands and narrowed her chestnut eyes. Too much time has been wasted hanging out with Tahani, and Laria needed to return to the captain for her paperwork to file.

Before Laria could exit the building, a cold hand constricted around her wrist. It shot shivers up the third seat's spine, the reiatsu briefly reminding her of her captain. "Wait, Laria." Tahani grunted as she stood over Laria. How she managed to get up quickly remained a mystery to her.

"What's wrong?" The Alfero questioned, her head tilted back to face Tahani's concerned expression. Her midnight orbs narrowed slightly to look down at Laria, almost as if they were studying her by a simple glance.

She replaced her concern with a playful smirk, scoffing silently when Laria narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "It's nothing too big Laria, I just wanna hang out a bit... that can't be too much trouble can it?"

Laria furrowed her brow in deep consideration. It wasn't like she had to go, but it wouldn't hurt if she hung out with the older woman. After all, she never promised the captain on when she'll be back.

"Fine, but we must make this quick." Laria responded in a cold voice, furrowing her brow suspiciously at Tahani's wider smirk.

"Great! I know what to do!"

-:-

Tahani Rosa arrived to Soul Society as a cruel and untrusting woman. She remembered her name, recalling the scorching day when her eyes lifted and her hand tightly grasping around the sword that she holds today. The woman had noticed some wounded people were looking at her in fear, as if she had done the attacking herself.

Her biggest regret back then was letting them live with only one limb attached to their bodies, because they spread rumours of a woman, with the ferocity of a tiger. They whimpered under their breaths and tried to avoid her, because of her engulfing reiatsu but whenever they did, they would end up on the ground, bleeding to death.

That all changed when she found Laria seventy years later. It had been a normal day; Tahani had killed a hollow after it snacked on people, spotting a black figure jumping on roof tops. Sensing the reiatsu, Tahani had to go – it was like a calling. She had followed the figure in secret, discovering that it was a shinigami but he wasn't alone. He was holding a small brunette girl in his arms, but the strangest thing occurred to Tahani.

The girl was the one showing off all the reiatsu as she was unconscious. It wasn't as powerful as hers, but it was strange, giving off a weird vibe about it. Tahani saw the girl wake up, and the shinigami threatened to kill her. Naturally, Tahani would've let him... but a look of confusion and terror flashed in the girl's eyes... almost as if she didn't understand on what was going on.

And the rest was history.

However nowadays, Tahani still loved violence – but she was slightly more comfortable with people and if she liked them enough to consider them a friend, then she would prank them until the end of her days. (Cue the evil laughter)

"The sixth division?" Laria's frosty voice brought Tahani into reality; she raised her eyes to see the gates of the division with a smirk.

"Yep." Tahani decided, folding her arms with a determined nod. "I thought we would come to give our stupid pineapple a 'friendly' visit." By friendly, she means she was going to annoy the crap out of him, and make him snap in fury. It's funnier when Renji has to do paperwork, because Tahani would enter Captain Kuchiki's office without a single care in the world and the redhead lieutenant would end up with the punishments at the end of the day.

"Tahani, I'm pretty sure that Abarai-san and Captain Kuchiki just returned from the living world." The third seat narrowed her eyes as the duo entered the barracks. Subordinates rushed around, trying to get their paperwork done. If Tahani could guess, it was identical to the tenth division.

"They went to the living world?" Tahani wondered blankly, suppressing an unhappy frown, "How long were they gone for?"

"Just a day, but it was an emergency." Laria responded, following along the raven haired woman.

That was probably why the Captain and Renji were sent in the first place. If it was an emergency, she let out an uncomfortable cough. This emergency must be linked to some offences.

A flash of red distracted Tahani, her midnight orbs following along the red pineapple with glee. "Found him! Let's go-!" She clutched onto Laria's wrist, hauling the annoyed third seat to follow him. He went into another room, in which Tahani presumed was his and rushed forward to slide the door open. Once the door opened, both girls widened their eyes in horror.

The girl sat on a chair behind bars, her reiatsu restrained but she wore the common white robes to indicate she lost most of her reiatsu. Just how long had she been there? She was sickly pale and her hair had no gloss; Tahani could see the dull look in her violet eyes.

For once Tahani was speechless but one name managed to escape her lips, "Rukia... Kuchiki..."

Automatically, the girl raised her head to see the newcomers. By then Renji had just realised the fourth seat had entered with Laria. Like her taller companion, Laria's chestnut orbs were wide, with her lips formed into a straight line. Tahani was going to question on the situation, but Renji had stormed passed them and pulled them out of the cell room.

"What the heck are you two doing?!" He hissed violently, glaring more at Tahani than Laria. Instantly, a snarl was pulled back by Tahani and she went on her tippy toes to get into his face.

"What the heck was _that?!_" Tahani retorted, noticing that Renji's eyes flickering in irritation. "Why is Rukia in that cell?! All those years you crying like a little bitch about Rukia, and when you see her for the first time in years you lock her up?!"

Renji snapped, trapping Tahani with his arms behind the wall in an instant, russet eyes leering down at her as he took angry pants, "Shut up brat."

If it had been another person from this division, they would've at least flinched but Tahani was from the eleventh and she's seen scarier things. Her midnight orbs met his, as if by staring at his eyes were going to give answers but she remained silent. Tahani was too shocked to even continue, but her face said otherwise.

"Abarai-san!" Laria warned in a determined voice, narrowing her eyes fiercely, "You may be a rank higher than us, but that does not give you permission to abuse your title."

"Both of you shut up!" The lieutenant pushed himself away, grinding his teeth together in fury. Both of the girls were still glaring back at Renji, trying to foresee his next movements. "Rukia's in trouble."

"Nah duh..." Tahani muttered, ignoring the glare from the redhead.

"What I'm trying to say is... she's going to be killed." He rephrased, tensing his arms when both girls widened their eyes briefly.

"A death sentence? What did Kuchiki-san do which was bad enough to end up like that?" Laria wondered, eyes faintly flickering towards the door.

Silence seemed to be their only friend at that moment. Renji looked like he was going to punch the wall in rage while the girls had blinked patiently for his response. He clenched his fist, scoffing in a dry humour, "Rukia thought it was funny to give some human brat her power."

Their eyes went wider, horror sparking in Tahani's brain. A power transfer to a human? There were rumours stating that it had to be the kind of human that could handle such power... but was it possible to give it to any human?

"Renji..." Tahani whispered, sympathy flashing in her eyes. He turned away abruptly, and the fourth seat could tell that he was pissed off with himself more than anything.

"Don't tell anyone what you saw, this is a captain and lieutenant matter, keep this a secret until later." His voice turned cold, but it was desperate.

_**A/n: And our favourite little idiot known as Hozumi has joined the story at last. He wasn't in the original because I had cut him out of it, but now his role has been confirmed. Think of him as Keigo but not afraid to fight and not a complete loser. He's so adorable! *Hugs Hozumi*  
**_

_**Hozumi: xD Agua-chan!**_

_**Agua: Hey, before I sign out... I'm wondering if anyone wants to read those facts like I did last time in this story. (For those who don't know, when I write these chapters I make notes on them which are later used as fun facts for the chapter) And if I don't have facts, I write down omakes for the story - some which are completely random and sometimes feature the crazy idiot *Cough* me (hey, writing that made me smile a bit) **_

***Tsuki okami – Moon Wolf**

****Tsukisofu – Moon blast (originally Tsuki no pawa)**

**_29/07/2012* Pop.  
_**


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome, Ryoka!

**A/n: Now these are the reviews I've been waiting for :D Sorry, once again I shall not be too greedy and accept them with love. I will not be like Greed-sama! Okay, he's kinda cool so you can't really not like him.  
**

**Otherwise... we would have a problem.**

**I'm kidding! Nah, I don't care what other people think about my favourite characters! Its just more character time for me. I boast about how much I love Renji in front of everyone - it takes me a while to get me to shut about him. Hey, now I seriously wish Kubo would draw up the next chapter! I wanna see Renji's awesomeness again-!**

**Tahani: Just hurry up with ya damn posting!**

**Agua: Heh... sorry... But seriously the things I would do to Renji-! *Gets cut off by disclaimer***

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz  
**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 3: Welcome, Ryoka!  
**

Keeping her word was harder than it looks. Laria never asked the captain about the Rukia Kuchiki incident, and it was difficult for her to keep a secret. She wasn't meant for that sort of hiding. Hozumi and Lieutenant Matsumoto often noticed that the third seat had been doing more paperwork than usual, to keep her mind off the hidden truth.

For the next two and a half weeks, Laria didn't even take a break; deciding that she would just take Rangiku's and Hozumi's paperwork. The lazy duo was more than glad to let Laria do their work, but they were still suspicious of their behaviour.

"This is amazing!" Matsumoto exclaimed, gently clapping sake cups with an overexcited Hozumi. His cheeks were brightly flushed red, with a goofy grin on his face. Sake from his cup splashed around the edges almost as if threatened to spill at any moment. Oh, how Laria inwardly prayed that the sake wouldn't spill because of Hozumi's foolishness. However, knowing Laria's luck... it was going to spill anyways and they're not going to clean up after themselves.

It was the way life was.

"Laria-chan is the best!" The unseated officer sang cheerily, unaware that the brunette was seeing red. She hissed under her breath for listening to the fourth seat in the first place, writing the rest of the work that remained on the Captain's table. It was probably karma, Laria had finally assumed. Karma for sneaking around with Tahani made her keep a secret that only the lieutenants and captains were meant to know.

After all, she was just a third seat.

A vein throbbed on Laria's forehead, she has been doing work all morning – _their_ – work; the least they could do was get out of the barracks to drink. "It's early morning... and you're getting yourself drunk?" Her hand was aching, aching enough for her to grab Tsuki Okami and slice it off just to get rid of the pain. However Laria knew that would've been ridiculous.

"You know what those humans say in the living world, you only live once!" Rangiku agreed, waving her hands in the air. "Well, they don't technically live once," Laria's hands automatically snapped the brush in half, and considering that she had a small hand, it was a job well done.

"Matsumoto-san." The third seat kept her eyes on a particular file, spotting Rangiku turn towards her in the corner of her eye. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Le' me answer tha' one..." Hozumi slurred, tapping his chin as if he appeared to be in deep thought, "Nah, Ran-chan is missing nothing..."

"I was not talking to you Aoki-san, you should be drinking water." Laria informed coldly, narrowing her eyes sharply as the drunken man suddenly planted his face in the couch. If she had been someone like Tahani, then she would've screeched loudly to wake him up. However Laria wasn't that irresponsible, "Matsumoto-san, you're meant to be heading to your meeting."

The blonde woman pouted, leaving the cups of sake around to pick up the paperwork for her lieutenant meeting. "Do you know where Captain is, Laria-chan?"

Mentioning the Captain made Laria narrow her eyes; here she was, sitting in his desk and she didn't even know where he went. A scowl was brought on her face, reading the reports that he already filed before he disappeared.

"I wouldn't know, Captain Hitsugaya didn't even write a note." Laria responded, her brow furrowed together in worry. She recalled the emergency captain meeting alarm going off, but Laria was transporting paperwork to the ninth division when the alarm went off.

Now that Matsumoto was leaving for her meeting, Laria was the one that was going to be in charge. There has been more suspicion going on about the Rukia Kuchiki incident, it was as if the human that received the powers from the Kuchiki was on their way to rescue her.

"Matsumoto-san..." Laria muttered uneasily, making Rangiku raise an eyebrow suspiciously, "Rukia Kuchiki... is it true?"

The lieutenant's face didn't show much surprise at the thought of Laria discovering the truth, but she was curious into knowing how Laria had figured it out. "It's true." She answered gravely, reading the report on the work. "We're also discussing the ryoka situation."

"You mean... that's true as well? What about Captain Ichimaru? Didn't he encounter the ryoka?" Laria exclaimed, pulling away from her work to stare at her lieutenant. It made sense now that both captain and lieutenant went to a meeting at the same time.

Rangiku let out a dry smile, "I don't know with Gin these days, he's always so mysterious."

_Not as mysterious as Tsuki okami._ The brunette added silently, turning her eyes back to the work so that she had a reason to not gawp like a fish out of water. "Well, good luck Matsumoto-san... You lieutenants better come up with a good strategy."

She was responded with a reassuring grin. "Don't worry Laria-chan, we'll make sure that they don't break into Seireitei." Laria heard her lieutenant's feet step out of the office and as soon as the door slid shut, Hozumi stirred from his nap.

"Laria-chan?" Hozumi yawned, stumbling over to the desk as he clutched onto his head. "Ow... my head... it's pounding." He perked his head with curiosity when he noticed that Laria slid a cup towards his direction with a deep frown.

"Aoki-san, drink some water." The third seat offered, "I didn't drink from it yet so you don't have to worry about my 'cooties'." She continued on her work, not even watching Hozumi let out a burst of laughter.

"Ah Laria-chan, always brightening up my day!" His fingers wrapped around the cup and gulped down the water thirstily. "That hit the spot!" Hozumi grinned childishly, raising his thumb towards the brunette. "Thank you Laria-chan! You're the best!"

Laria raised her head, blinking silently blood rushed to her face in embarrassment. Before Hozumi could comment on her face, she immediately turned back to the paperwork and scowled.

"Flattery will get you know Aoki-san," She commented flatly, trying to ignore the blush on her cheeks.

Hozumi had joined in on the paperwork, much to Laria's surprise but he was signing forms that didn't require the captain or lieutenant signature. The more paperwork Laria read through, the more she realised that this had a lot to do with Rukia Kuchiki and the broken law. She tried to see on what could possibly happen to make the woman to break the law in the first place.

Maybe she was in danger, and the last thing she had left to do was give some random person her powers so that he could kill the hollow. It only confused Laria even more at that, after all... how could a shinigami go to a _human_ for help? If that was true, then some shinigami might as well go join the hollows.

"Laria-chan! This is so boring!" Hozumi groaned, slamming his face into the desk which made the third seat jump from the sudden sound.

Not that she was frightened or anything...

"Aoki-san, you have been signing forms for at least five minutes now... why are you complaining?" Laria growled back, giving a glare to her subordinate. How this man managed to graduate from the Shinigami Academy many years ago, surprises her.

"I just think it's ridiculous that you and Captain Hitsugaya manage to do this without losing your head!"

"We're just better at self control than you are."

Hozumi let out a childish pout, but paused when he heard a loud yell through the other side of the door. Even Laria had to stop writing to give a weird look at the entrance, raising an eyebrow when there was a loud familiar voice snapping.

"_Since when do ya care that I come see Laria anyways?!"_

The duo from the tenth division heard a muffled reply, but there heard an outraged yell. A sigh escaped Laria's lips as Tahani slid the door open with an annoyed look crossing her features. Tahani hissed, whirling around to slam the door shut, but it only made a soft thud in response. The zanpakuto that was strapped tightly by the orbi of her uniform, swung from Tahani's rapid movements.

"I don't care if Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto are out! Why don't ya cry to some who cares then asshole!?" She shouted through the door, turning around to see that Laria was glaring at her and Hozumi was blinking innocently but silenced by his fear of being beaten.

"Tahani..." Laria growled in a warning voice, her eyes narrowed sharply. The mentioned fourth seat grinned sheepishly, hiding her hands behind her back as if she was a guilty child when she saw Laria's face darken. "What is going on?"

A scowl quickly appeared on Tahani's face, "I hate that whiney little bitch Taro." She muttered furiously, folding her arms crossly. "He was saying that because neither Hitsugaya nor Rangiku were around, I would and I quote: '_distract Third Seat Alfero because of your brutal ways'_ jeez was Hitsugaya drunk when he accepted Taro?"

"Tahani!" Laria defended immediately, her brow furrowed deeply and her lips were set into a firm line. "Don't offend Captain Hitsugaya's choices!" For someone that had a high admiration for the Captain of the Tenth division, Laria would easily defend him.

"Well come on, Taro's so annoying!" Tahani responded, snarling darkly at the thought. "He's always talking like another Byakuya Kuchiki!"

"Here, here Tahani-chan!" Hozumi raised his hand in the air, which made Tahani grin widely and high five the taller man. "How was the living world mission a fortnight ago?"

Tahani paused to remember her previous mission, her grin expanding at the thought, "It was awesome! I got to punch a little shit that wasn't listening to me!"

The male sweat dropped, but kept the grin on his face. "That's exciting enough."

Laria saw that Tahani expression immediately changed, looking towards the third seat with glee, "Hey Laria, do ya remember that incident two and a half weeks ago?" Just by reading her midnight orbs, it meant that she was referring about Rukia Kuchiki incident. "Well, I found out more about it!"

"That the ryoka are coming?" Hozumi piped up with a smile, making both of the girls widen their eyes in mid surprise. He turned towards Laria who held a questioning stare in her eyes, "Hey, I may have been passed out drunk, but it doesn't mean I couldn't hear you talking with Ran-chan in my sleep."

"Well during the past few days, rumours have been going 'round that Ichimaru let 'em go on purpose instead of killing 'em." Tahani shrugged lazily, running a hand through her short, raven locks. "But he did attack one of 'em and surprisingly lived."

"Surviving an attack by Captain Ichimaru? That's incredible." The only male in the office admitted with a wicked grin, "But he's gonna cause a lot of trouble... which means..." He lowered his head in with a disappointed aura hovering over him. "More paperwork..."

"I think it's gonna be fun, beating the crap out of hollows are getting too boring anyways!" Tahani declared, raising her arm cheerfully into the air with a cheesy grin.

Laria kept silent, narrowing her eyes in deep thought. She knew Tahani well enough from her demanding smirk and the deadly look in her eye to tell that the fourth seat _wanted_ to encounter the ryoka. Her frown deepened at the thought; no matter how many years it had been since Tahani had found Laria, she will always have that savage side of hers to quench.

"Tahani..." The brunette muttered in a low voice, looking down at her paperwork in annoyance. She couldn't stop Tahani from being herself, but Laria just wished that Tahani could contain it. Tahani seemed to have caught Laria's expression, letting herself grin and walk towards Laria. Hozumi raised an eyebrow and tilted his head just as Tahani was in front of the desk. Laria raised her head to meet Tahani's eyes, but flinched when she felt Tahani hand on top of Laria's head.

"Nwah, that's so cute!" The unseated male sang out, falling into silence when Laria sent a dark glare towards him.

"Ya worry too much, I won't get hurt... I will have every bone in my body broken before I allow anything to happen to ya..." Tahani swore with her midnight orbs deadly serious for the first time in many years. It made Laria stiffly smile, however her chest was feeling heavy at the smile. "Ria-chan..."

Laria's smile vanished and her expression darkened in fury as Hozumi widened his eyes with a grin and burst out laughing.

"Ria-chan! I will call you that from now on!" Hozumi chortled, falling off the chair to roll on the wooden floors laughing. A friendly chuckle came from Tahani, her eyes slightly frightened of the third seat glaring darkly at the taller figures.

"You will not-!"

"..."

Laria and Tahani paused, just as Hozumi stopped laughing at the sound of an alarm. It was constant, rushing as if whomever had to raise the alarm had only enough strength to pass on the message. They narrowed their eyes in worry, with Hozumi standing up and opening the door to spot shinigami rushing down the halls.

"It's a riot out there!" Hozumi yelped, furrowing his brow.

_"EMERGENCY ALERT!EMERGENCY ALERT!INTRUDERS IN THE SEIREITEI! ALL DIVISIONS, TAKE DEFENCE POSITIONS! REPEAT! EMERGENCY ALERT!EMERGENCY ALERT!INTRUDERS IN THE SEIREITEI! ALL DIVISIONS, TAKE DEFENSE POSITIONS!"_

The trio briefly widened their eyes – one was with a grin as the other two were with dropped jaws. These ryoka must've planned all of this out, in order to throw them off guard.

"Aoki-san, Tahani – let's go check outside!" Laria ordered with a serious stare, grasping onto Tsuki okami to clip the sash around her body and rushing out of the room to the outdoors. Her heart was pounding with anxiety as her eyes directed to the sky, focusing on the bright blue ball headed their way. Nothing like this hasn't happened in Soul Society for as long Laria was there. There probably has been some situation before she became a shinigami but this was completely new to her eyes.

Tahani and Hozumi stood behind Laria, she tilted her head back to spot her female friend who's grin seem to turn dark. This had been the look that Laria dreaded for the past few days; the one look that told Laria that Tahani was going to find the ryoka and charge without thinking.

"That's them?!" Hozumi wondered, a somewhat confused expression on his face. A scoff was let out from Tahani, making Laria quickly realise on her intentions.

She whirled around to face the fourth seat, a stern expression crossing her face. The last thing that Laria wanted was a reckless Tahani, "Tahani, don't-!"

"I'm going back to the Eleventh Division Laria, I won't be making anymore promises though." Tahani cut Laria off, smirking darkly as she disappeared in a flash. What Laria hated most about Tahani was the fact that the fourth seat was an expert with shunpo.

"Damn it Tahani!" Laria snapped, her lips pulling back into an annoyed snarl. Her eyes fixed towards Hozumi with a cold stare, making him flinch at her glare, "Follow me Aoki-san!"

Naturally, Hozumi would've said no, but he was required to listen to Laria whenever it came down to an emergency. "Right..." He clutched onto his zanpakuto, running with Laria to face a clear zone with the rest of the division getting themselves into position. "I really hope I don't have to use my zanpakuto..."

"I hope I won't have to use Tsuki okami at all." The brunette responded gravely, "I can use kido but I worry that they may be smarter than we anticipated." She had a feeling that there was more than one ryoka, but the most she wanted was answers. What were they intending on doing once they entered Seireitei? If what the rumours said were true, then... it will be a complicated task trying to get rid of them. They would only get themselves killed if they encountered more than one captain.

"Alfero, Aoki!"

Hearing the Captain's voice made Laria briefly widen her eyes, turning swiftly to face him and Rangiku rushing towards them immediately. She felt like a heavy burden had suddenly lifted and she was finally glad that Toshiro had returned.

"Captain! Lieutenant!" Hozumi exclaimed with a reliving grin, "Here I thought neither of you would show up."

Toshiro ignored Hozumi's comment, staring directly towards Laria who flinched at his look. It was darker than usual, almost as if something was irritating him. She shook the feeling off, despite the fact that his eyes were still leering and she continued.

"Any orders captain?" Laria questioned, reaching for the sash resting on her chest for comfort. "I don't think the ryoka will infiltrate, but it's better if we take precautions." The bright orb continued its path, but it suddenly halted in mid air. They have already crashed into the anti-soul shield that was protecting Seireitei from outsider intruders.

"Just stay back," The captain ordered solemnly, eyeing Laria as she nodded and took a few steps back with Hozumi. She continued watching the intruders, but suddenly the ball entered through the shield.

"No way..." Hozumi mumbled with astonishment, Laria couldn't even speak up. Her eyes slightly widened, and her mouth left gaping as a flash of yellow lit up the sky.

"Impossible..." She whispered, unblinking her eyes as the worst thought came to mind. Something caught her eye, making her frown at the sight of Toshiro constricted with thoughts. _Captain..._

It all begins now.

-:-

"Oh boo freakin' ya!" The raven-haired fourth seat declared with a wide smirk. She spotted the golden light crash down into their division, which only excited the fourth seat more. Sand flew up from the crashing spot, and Tahani did not resist the suddenly confused frown on her face.

Why was there sand? It was as if the ryoka had crash-landed on a beach or something. At the consideration, Tahani had a faint smirk. She would like to go to the beach eventually; maybe after the dumb invasion.

"Oh well..." Tahani muttered to herself out loud, her excitement began to bubble up again. "At least I get a fight from a complete stranger!" She pushed her feet from the ground, leaping onto the roof to observe the scene below. There was a crater full of sand, which cleared up the puzzlement of the sand but inside the sand crater were two arguing males.

One was a peach skinned, lean built male with chocolate brown eyes; his distinctive feature was the messy orange hair of his. He appeared young as well, almost like a human teenager but with a Shihakusho on. Then it clicked on – he was the human shinigami that Rukia Kuchiki was with.

The other male... Tahani had to admit that he was freaking hideous. He had a body form of a gorilla, with a green bandana covering over his head, and some green outfit with oddly familiar symbols on them. She promised herself that she would ask Laria about the weird symbol later.

Now Tahani was going to announce her arrival to the males, but she was already beaten to the punch. A scowl formed on her face, noticing Ikkaku with his shiny head doing his luck, luck dance and Yumichika probably criticising the clothes that the hideous man wore.

"Did ya guys think that I will miss out?" Tahani declared, which paused the arguing and the talking for all the males to look directly at her. She detected that the gorilla man was freaking out over her reiatsu. A sneer crossed her face, looking somewhat proud that she was making a male crap himself.

Whoever made up gender stereotypes should double check their facts before they go off writing bull crap.

"What the heck are you doing Rosa?" Ikkaku inquired, glaring daggers at the female. She could already tell that Ikkaku was annoyed that his stupid little dance was interrupted.

"Are ya freakin' retarded? I came here to fight the ryoka!" Her smirk darkened viciously as she leaped from her previous spot and landed on the ground smoothly. The ryoka seemed to have widened their eyes in surprise once they saw Tahani standing behind her division mates. "For once I want to have a challenge with someone new!" Before she knew it, the man in the strange outfit bolted out of the crater.

"Huh? Did you two break up?" Ikkaku wondered. Tahani's eyes roamed all over the shinigami, frowning at his physical body. He was probably just shorter than Hozumi, but something told Tahani that this boy reminded her of Renji. Her eyes spotted the hair, nodding mentally in agreement.

It was the hair.

"Something like that." The orange haired Shinigami responded, sounding as if he knew that he was going to get ditched in the end. Tahani scoffed silently at the thoughts of gorilla man running off – what a wimp.

Ikkaku added a scoff at the fleeing man's actions, "Don't make me waste my time." He muttered angrily, narrowing his eyes sharply. "Yumichika."

"I know." Yumichika instantly responded and started to pursue after the man who had fled. Tahani smirked to herself -that gorilla man was going to have so much fun with Yumichika. The orange haired Shinigami hopped out of the crater and glowered at both Tahani and Ikkaku.

"Rosa." The bald third seat didn't even look at her while he spoke. She knew what it meant, and if she was being honest... Tahani hated it.

"Why are ya bitchin' now?" Tahani grumbled, folding her arms in annoyance.

"Shut up and let me take this fight." He responded coldly, holding out the sheath of his zanpakuto as Tahani let out an annoyed scowl. Naturally, she would have argued, because he always got to have all the fun, but the only reason why she would let this new challenger go was because Ikkaku had encountered him first.

"Have him then," She hissed, turning completely around to face the opposite direction. Once she took a step away from the fighters, Tahani briefly turned to face the boy. "Kid... what's ya name?"

The boy scowled, glaring at the fighters as if they were about to burst into flames. "Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Shinigami..."

This boy was meant to be a substitute shinigami? She narrowed her eyes to observe his appearance once again, spotting the huge weapon strapped to his back. That was one zanpakuto, he had no training in retaining his reiatsu it was pathetic. Tahani may not be a master of reiatsu control but it was enough to pass the academy.

"Strawberry..." The woman muttered with a teasing smirk, resisting the wider sneer when Ichigo's face darkened with annoyance. "Well, _if _ya get to beat Ikkaku, look up Tahani Rosa, fourth seat of the eleventh division."

"Just make sure no one stupid gets involved with my fight." Ikkaku ordered. Tahani rolled her eyes in annoyance, sort of hoping that Ikkaku gets his head beaten in because of how demanding he was. She leaped onto the roof using shunpo to get a few metres away from their fight, well aware that Ikkaku would kill her if she were too close.

However, that was not the only thing that was bothering her.

_There was something different about his reiatsu, darker almost_. Her eyes narrowed towards the direction of their fight, and waited. She stood on the tiled roof, taking a comfortable seat to relax in silence before more fighting happened. _Rukia Kuchiki, do ya sense him fighting for ya?_ Tahani wondered briefly.

-:-

His head was pounding with a migraine, gritting his jaw together as he cursed the one Shinigami that he could never trust.

Ichimaru.

It was because of the Third Division captain that they were running around like headless chickens to capture the five ryoka. Hopefully when the mess was over, the Head Captain will give him a punishment that would wipe that sly grin of Ichimaru's face. Hitsugaya tightened the hold he had on his cup, trying to find a clue of the ryoka's intentions but he came empty-handed.

He was still bothered by the Captains' meeting. Many of the older captains got into a argument, and when he means many, he really means just Zaraki and Kurotsuchi. They were having the brief argument of what they should do to each other. If anything, the captains should grow up and focus on the situation. The eldest captains were always the level heads when it came to these sorts of situations, like Kuchiki, Ukitake, Unohana or Kyoraku.

By the end of the meeting, the Head Captain had declared that they should wait until further notice. As Hitsugaya attempted to exit the room, he didn't fail to hear a quiet conversation going against Aizen and Ichimaru.

What had it been the sly captain been talking about? Why was Aizen involved with it? Knowing the Fifth Division captain, he would know something that the others do not. Aizen was a smart man; it would be no surprise that he figured out something before everyone else. Something else bothered the captain of the Tenth Division, however. Kira happened to be the lieutenant of the third division, who was friends with Hinamori, who had been lieutenant of the Fifth Division.

Hitsugaya had to protect Hinamori, and he would have to keep an eye on both Ichimaru and Kira. Both of them were his largest suspects for something big. Besides, he had promised himself a long time ago that he was not going to let anything happen to Hinamori since that day.

He placed the cup on the table calmly, trying to sense if any dramatic battles were going on at that moment. Madarame was fighting with the ryoka, and well aware that the third seat will not let anyone intervene in his fight. What was with the Eleventh Division and their disturbing urge to fight? He doesn't pay particular attention to those men, but there was one that occasionally did come visit his division to visit Alfero and Aoki. What was her name again?

Hitsugaya shrugged silently to himself, only remembering that her last name was Rosa. She was just as irritating as Matsumoto. She had always barged into the office without knocking, yelled around like a barbarian than demanded of Alfero's location, unless she was with them which she was half the time. Whenever Alfero was with them, she would give a sheepish look towards her superiors before scolding the raven haired woman.

He buried his head in his hands, hiding his vision of the office but able to detect a familiar reiatsu making its way to the door. It opened without a knock, making Hitsugaya snap his head towards Alfero's direction. She seemed to have flinch under his gaze, her chestnut eyes finding interest on the wooden floors.

"Captain..." Alfero mumbled, bowing in his direction. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow but kept his icy glare intact. He thought he had told her to go to her station in case the ryoka sneak through.

"Alfero, what are you doing here?" His voice was cold like his glare, but the third seat remained unfazed by his words or eyes. Instead she narrowed her eyes and stepped closer, keeping the air confident for the first time in the thirty-five years he had known her.

"Something went wrong in that meeting." It had not being a question for him to answer; Alfero looked like she had solved a legendary puzzle when she saw his eyes briefly widen. "I will not pry to what it was, but I wish for you to not become burdened by such thought."

That surprised him, again.

When did she become so observant? She had read him like an open book, and Hitsugaya often kept closed off from others. The only one who could read him so well was Hinamori.

Instead of glaring, Hitsugaya stood up and approached Alfero. He had always been a head taller than her, and she had to crane her neck just to look at him in the eye. It was incredibly brave for someone to look at him in the eye without shuddering.

"You're orders Alfero are clear and simple..." His voice didn't strain, or squeak with the girl in front of him, "I want you to spy on the Third Division, especially on Kira and Ichimaru."

Surprise flashed her expression, and she took a mild step away from him. "Spying?"

"Yes Alfero, I want you keep an eye on Hinamori, but watch out for Kira." Hitsugaya knew that this would be a risky task, but he couldn't help but feel protective of his sister figure. Alfero would be perfect for the job – she was close with Hinamori, often taking Kido lessons from her and sometimes conversed with Kira. It wouldn't be too hard for the third seat.

"It will be done Captain." The brunette replied slowly, with a hint of pride in her eyes. "Is there anything else you need done in this mission?"

"Do not inform this to anyone, not Matsumoto, not Aoki – not even Rosa. No one is to be trusted."

Something flashed in Alfero's eyes so quickly that Hitsugaya could not recognise it, "Right..."

"Now get going, the later you leave, the more casualties happen." Hitsugaya informed, just as the third seat bowed to him in respect. Just as she reached for the door, the captain called her name out, pausing her. Her eyes locked into his eyes, and Hitsugaya could practically feel the excitement from the girl, "Good luck, Alfero."

A smile expanded on her face, making Hitsugaya inwardly fluster at the sight of her smile. It was one of those rare smiles that he saw on her face, and he hadn't seen it in many years. Her eyes flashed with loyalty and determination to please him, which he found rather reassuring. Instead of smiling back like a normal person, he deepened his scowl but it was worried for her. He hoped to the Spirit King that Alfero had what it takes.

"Thanks, captain."

_**A/n: **_**Now, most people can see the differences if they had read the original... but eh... Oh yeah. I love my new Cover Image! It's so awesome! It took me a few hours to do because my nieces wouldn't leave me alone and I was completely lazy and didn't bother with any shading or lighting TT_TT I can't wait until my eldest starts going to school. She's going to the same school that I went to for three years so I get to show her the ropes! If she doesn't interrupt my writing or drawing with my DSi in her hands asking how to finish Yoshi's Island that is... okay I'm ranting****  
**

**So I finally figured out how I am going to update my stories - This one, Moon on Ice will be posted on Mondays (time will differ depending on my mood) but I will most likely posted them at 9-10 pm (UTC + 10... I hate time zones... -_-') Then my Naruto Oc story will be on Wednesdays same time and my final story The Hidden World will be on Fridays, once again same time. **

**Fact: Writing Hitsugaya's scene took me an entire day to write, the previous scenes were smooth but I really wanted to perfect the Chibi Captain's personality. I still think it could go for a few more edits, but that one was the best.**

**04****_/08/2013* I just edited this, but did I seriously put 2012 for the previous chapters Dx? My life is over!_**


	5. Chapter 4: The Hunt Begins

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. I'm kinda curious though, who is actually noticing the changes? Other than Hozumi and the fact its based on the manga at the beginning. So far, the differences aren't big, but there are some that are coming up pretty quickly. Okay, it doesn't matter so much... let's just get down to business, to write down this chapter~**

**Okay, I'm posting now xD**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz  
**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 4: The hunt begins**

It had been an interesting battle so far. Though Tahani couldn't watch the fight with her eyes, she could sense the battle with the reiatsu. She had been comfortably perched on the roof with her legs crossed so she could lean on her hands. So far, Ikkaku and Ichigo had been evenly matched, and that was with Hozukimaru released. Occasionally Ikkaku would get the upper hand, but Ichigo kept fighting back with more energy. It was like the kid was only beginning to use his power.

_Their reiatsu... it's so heavy and rough that it's even bothering me._

Of course Ikkaku's reiatsu doesn't bother her, but it was the collision that made her feel weakened. This was only because Tahani was not use to Ichigo's unique reiatsu... to her it was like the sunny sky.

It was weird considering that they have only been fighting for a few minutes. Usually Ikkaku's battles would last for a few seconds before it would declare that he was the winner. This kid seemed better than Tahani originally assumed.

It was either that or Ikkaku kept talking.

Ichigo's zanpakuto was another story, though its shape almost shamed Ichigo, it actually appeared powerful. It had an unusual shape to it, resembling some giant ass kitchen knife that was about to cut open a giant apple or something.

The mental image made Tahani chuckle lightly. She leaned back to lie on the roof, keeping her midnight orbs focused on the bright sky. The other fight with Yumichika and gorilla man wasn't as interesting. He just kept running around like a little wimp while Yumichika chased after him.

"It's hot." Tahani voiced with an annoyed stare; she never approved of the heat.

_"Tani-nee-sama!"_

_The mentioned woman narrowed her midnight orbs into a vicious scowl. Why had that brat been so intent on calling her such a disgusting name? It only annoyed the woman that someone could think of such thing._

_Here she was: lying down on the roof of their deserted building, waiting for sun to completely set and in peace until she heard the child call out to her. Her raven locks had unequally grown past her shoulders, ending in jagged lines, with clothing that could be called shredded, grey rags. She had been like this since the day she woke up in Rukongai without a trace of how people were screaming in fear of her, or holding the silver blade in her hand. _

_Speaking of her weapon..._

_Tahani reached for her sheathed blade beside her, clutching onto it protectively as if her life depended on it. She could not recall when she had become so attached to the blade; it was like the sword was her second half. Who needed soul mates when they had swords?_

_"What is it Laria?" The raven-haired woman questioned with an annoyed scowl. Her eyes nearly went soft when she saw the short brunette girl climb onto the roof with a determined grunt. Unlike Tahani, this child was much shorter than she was, only reaching to the height of her waist with short brown hair tied back into a low ponytail. Her childish bangs nearly went over her large round eyes, appearing innocent with a stare. She wore something familiar to Tahani, but her robes were closer to a milky green. Something white was hidden in Laria's tiny hands, attracting the interest from the taller woman, "What do ya have there?" _

_Laria blinked innocently, a grin expanding on her young expression as she showed off the small prize in her hands to Tahani. Tahani's eyes sparked with glee, her smirk only expanding a fraction from its original spot. "I got you a rice cake!" She explained cheerfully, placing the treat in Tahani's hands with her cheerful grin. _

_"Incredible kid, where did ya snag this from?" Tahani wondered blankly, taking a bite from the snack – this had been the best thing she got in years! _

_The response surprised Tahani. Instead of happily grinning to answer, Laria's grin dropped for a full second before it returned. "I got it... from..." When she told Tahani the origin of the cake, she screamed out in horror and choked on the rice._

_"Ya got it from that stupid pineapple?!" She screeched, unfortunately Tahani did not have a chance to vomit the food back up. Her stomach was already settling down as she as the food hit her mouth. "Damn it kid, why didn't ya tell me? He could've poisoned it!"_

_"I doubt he did that." Laria replied with a sheepish smile, "I had one before I gave it to you." _

_It seemed to keep Tahani quiet, but she had folded her arms and cradled herself so she could 'welcome death'. A few moments passed and Tahani heard something from the girl, making her raise an eyebrow curiously._

_"What did ya say kid?" _

_Laria gave a confident look, smirking with a hint of pride. "I found where I want to go," Her eyes locked firmly with Tahani's whose widened in surprise. "I want to become a shinigami." Disappointment appeared when Tahani looked away from Laria, focusing on the buildings in the distance. _

_"Ya wanna become one of those guys, huh..." She muttered in a low voice, just by judging Laria, Tahani could already tell that the girl was all on board for it. "Well – ya counting me in too!"_

_Laria's face brightened up like a sunrise, "Really Tani-nee-sama?!"_

_Tahani scowled quickly, but it was replaced with a determined smirk. She knows how to get out of this, she had better thank whoever or whatever made Laria want to become a shinigami. "But ya gotta do something for me." _

_Her face reformed into a puzzled expression, blinking innocently. "What's that's Tani-nee-sama?"_

_"For ya to stop calling me that."_

Tahani's eyes snapped opened at the sound of a mumble nearby. It wasn't everyday when someone would recklessly pass through when a fight was going on. She poked her head over the roof, spotting two men walking towards the direction of the battle.

Strange. She's seen them around her division all the time, and quickly realised who they were. Yachiru had given them the nickname, the 'Big Head Twins'. They were not twins in any way, but they were always together, commenting on how quickly they could defeat Captain Zaraki if they tried. When Yachiru had heard them boasting one day, she went to get him, in order to give him a good fight.

Tahani couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard at the squealing men. Both men had yelped, and clutched onto each other as Kenpachi chased down the men with a bloodlust grin crossing his features.

Tahani bounced onto her feet, glaring down at the Big Head Twins when they noticed her shadow looming above them.

"Fourth Seat!" One of them gasped – the one that Tahani recalled at Haroki. He was a thick boned figure, with a tuff of blonde hair on top of his head, and narrow black eyes. This man was the slower of the two, but he knew how to swing a sword despite he lacked on the strength.

"What's going on Fourth Seat?" The other questioned with a frown. Unlike Haroki, Ando was a frail looking thing but he was quick. His hair was a black mop that practically went over his head, showing a flash of green eyes.

"I dunno, what's going on with ya?" Tahani replied with a dark smirk. She knew their intentions, they always acted like they were the innocent ones but she wasn't stupid. They were going after the fight with Ichigo and Ikkaku.

"I heard about the ryoka, and we wanted the reward before anyone else." Haroki explained plainly, scratching the bald spot on his head. "Do you know where he's gone?"

Tahani let out a loud scoff, her lips pulling into a confident smirk. How could these men go after the strawberry kid, when they can't even admit that they couldn't even cut Captain Zaraki. Fools.

"What makes ya think I'm letting ya go through?" She wondered blankly, resulting two annoyed growls from both of the men. "Can't ya thick skulls sense Ikkaku's already fighting him? Even Yumichika's fighting one..." Her voice stopped at the sudden thought that occurred in her head, "Well, more like chasing but ya get my point..."

"How do you know that you're not lying to us Fourth Seat?!" Ando questioned with a scowl pointing directly towards her. "You've always hated out attitude, maybe you just want to reward for yourself."

"If I wanted the reward, we would be having a different conversation right now." Tahani admitted, folding her arms comfortably. "Fine, go on... but I'm not letting ya get to that fight so easily." Being the Big Head Twins, they both paused and narrowed their eyes in question.

"What do you mean by that?" Haroki asked curiously, narrowing his eyes when he noticed Tahani coat herself in reiatsu. Her reiatsu was light blue, shimmering around the outline of her body as she powered up.

"Any warrior knows when another is asking for a fight." She worded, showing off her reiatsu like it was a new toy. Both males gave a look towards each other, before they pulled out their zanpakuto and pointed their weapons towards Tahani.

"We'll defeat you Fourth Seat! It's two against one, and you're weaker than our third seat!"

Tahani smirked, pressing her feet from the ground to shunpo right behind the men. Their eyes widened in horror when they realised she had gotten behind them in a flash.

"I am weaker than Ikkaku... and maybe even Yumichika..." She muttered slowly, her smirk widened when they turned towards her with fear. "But I'm stronger than the both of ya." Her fingers clasped the hilt of her blade, pulling out the blade to show.

Haroki let out a war cry, swinging his swift weapon to cut Tahani's face but Aisutaiga already blocked the sword. He widened his eyes as Tahani began to grin, easily pushing the bulky male off his feet to block an incoming attack from Ando.

"Alright girls, that's enough playing." She teased, pushing back Ando with a sneer as she forced herself into a new position. Her feet were light on the ground, effective for dodging an incoming attack from Haroki again. "Fatso should take a damn seat." She whipped the blade to cut across Haroki's chest, before kicking him off his feet.

Now that she took off the one with the skills, she has to take on the little speedster. Tahani jumped back to dodge a swift attack from Ando, his green eyes wide with irritation. He raced towards Tahani to attack her, making the fourth seat to give him a pity stare.

"Too bad, it's over." She flashed out of sight with shunpo, using it as an advantage to stab her attacker in the stomach. His eyes widened with agony, and grunted when Tahani pulled out her blade from the body and cleaned the blood off her blade with his clothing. "That was fun, now ya guys sit here and think about ya actions while I..." She sheathed the zanpakuto back, furrowing her brow in confusion at first.

Feeling the familiar reiatsu signature fade in defeat made Tahani widen her eyes in astonishment – this kid was much tougher than she thought out to be. In fact, she has no chance against him.

Ichigo beat Ikkaku and he still had enough energy to keep going.

_This kid is very interesting; I really like the whole idea of fighting someone different for once. _Tahani was going to find Ichigo, and demand him for at least a match. She has wanted an opportunity for a fight like this for a long time. _Maybe this time, it will give me the fun I need to have in this boring messed up place._

-:-

_Tani-nee-sama..._

Maybe it was just instinct, but Laria secretly continued to call Tahani by the name that she disliked. She couldn't understand why Tahani didn't like it – it was enough to acknowledge the fourth seat on a whole new level. Her eyes narrowed to the sky and thought deeply about her new task; it had to do with secrets and lies – Laria was not good with either one. Something made her pause from her thoughts, looking down to her right hand to see it shaking rather nervously. Honestly, Laria had no idea on why it happened – but every time it had, Laria's gut would suddenly twist.

"Laria-chan!" Hozumi called out, noticing that Laria had stiffened when her name was called. She turned back to him slowly; her chestnut orbs were filling up with concern. "We just got word, saying that Ikkaku-kun got defeated by the ryoka. These guys are tough, eh?" He noticed that Laria's eyes partially widened at the words, but she seemed distracted by something else.

"Madarame-san had been defeated...?" Her hands clenched to the sides of her body, realising that Ikkaku was one of the strongest shinigami that she knew. He was stronger than Tahani, and considering that Laria use to be overwhelmed by Tahani's reiatsu was saying something. _Tahani._ If Ikkaku had been defeated, it obviously means that Tahani would be heading off to a goose-chase. This was not good at all.

"Is something wrong?" Hozumi inquired with a curious look, making Laria look back at him with a passive stare.

_Yes..._ Laria wanted to say, instead she moved her gaze away from the unseated officer. With the heavy feeling dragging her down, Laria inwardly decided on her next choice. "Tell Captain Hitsugaya that I'm sorry."

Hozumi's eyes squinted comically, unable to comprehend her words, "Wha?"

The third seat immediately shunpoed from the spot, trying to follow along with Tahani's reiatsu. She was going to do this task, but first Laria had to know if Tahani was going to be alright. After all, the raven haired woman was like her sister, and Laria couldn't help but feel protective of her. Before work and her loyalties, Tahani will always come first.

"Tahani... Please don't do anything reckless!" Laria begged, her eyes narrowed sharply as she raced to find her older companion.

-:-

If Tahani wasn't in such a rush to find Ichigo, she would've stopped and laughed at the situation that the bald third seat brought himself into. However, Tahani different plans for once – the challenging side of her took over and she had to make sure he wasn't dead yet. The area had been truly damaged, let's not forget to mention the huge hole in the wall.

Hectic.

"Ya still breathing?" She wondered, mindlessly kicking his side that resulted a pained groan from him. His body was covered in a familiar thick paste that patched up his new wounds. "Okay, nice to see ya alive."

"Damn of all people I have to see first... why did it have to be you?" Ikkaku groaned, scrunching his face in dissatisfaction. "It would've been better if I just died."

"Ya such a sweetie..." Tahani replied sarcastically, venom in her tone as Ikkaku glared at her. A chuckle escaped her lips, as her eyes narrowed fiercely, "Anyways, ya know what I came here for."

"Yeah, yeah... what do you wanna know?" Ikkaku muttered, looking away from his female subordinate. "Location? Intention? What shampoo he uses?"

"Whatever ya know – I know that if he beat ya, Captain Zaraki would be hunting him down." The woman replied blankly, ignoring the sick humour Ikkaku kept sharing. He must have had a good battle, but be in a bad mood if he kept talking to her like she was trash.

"He's rescuing Kuchiki. The little princess."

So Tahani had been right in the first place – the whole reason why the ryoka had come was because Ichigo had been the boy that Rukia gave his powers to. If he was this strong however, just how strong was Rukia Kuchiki in the first place? She had been just an unseated officer before this whole ordeal happened.

"Well, this was a fun little chat Baldy – make sure ya don't go talking to any weird clowns. I better get going before I get interrogated by the Fourth Division." Tahani noted, lazily waving her hand towards Ikkaku as she headed towards Rukia Kuchiki's little tower. Fireworks lit up the sky, signalling that the gorilla man had done something with Yumichika. She rather hoped that something funny happened to the girly fifth seat.

In addition, to think, this was all for Rukia Kuchiki. What was so interesting about the girl in the first place? Maybe she offered some sort of money as reward for her rescue.

The fourth seat will admit that she doesn't like Rukia Kuchiki. In fact, whenever she heard Renji moping about the fact that it was his fault that she left, she got annoyed. Why would he selfishly let Rukia Kuchiki go, when he could've fought for her? If Laria had been in the position, Tahani would've asked what Laria wanted before making a decision.

Anyways, Tahani hadn't really thought so highly of the Kuchiki princess. She knew that Rukia had come from the same district as her, but managed to get adopted by the highest of noble clans. What some people would do just to be in the same building was considered an honour. Another reason was because, even though she wasn't allowed to see Renji... she could've tried to find him. She could go on all day of why she disliked Rukia but the most important reason came from inside her chest.

Tahani didn't like the fact that Renji spoke of her, all the time and interrupted their training.

-:-

Now Laria had been running through the barracks of the eleventh division, panting heavily. Running had never been her forte, she was always better with attack from a distance. She slammed opened the doors from the dojo, finding the room to be empty.

_This isn't a good sign!_ Laria told herself, eyes narrowing sharply in hopes to see someone who knew where the woman had disappeared off to. Now would be a really good time for Tahani to randomly jump her with a warm sisterly hug.

The third seat scowled, exiting the room to find herself trapped in the walls again. Sooner she finds Tahani, the sooner Laria can let the fourth seat know of their power. So far no one had been caught, and considering that the Stealth force were with them, it was pretty astounding. Her eyes shut to locate Tahani, but another reiatsu made her widen her eyes in realisation.

_Wait._

Ikkaku would definitely know where she is. After all Tahani was after a challenge and if Ikkaku had lost in a fight, it clearly meant that the opponent had been a challenge. She wasn't sure of his true location, but it was better if she went straight to the Fourth Division to gather information. As she wandered aimlessly around the unfamiliar walls a commotion a few metres away made Laria blink silently.

It had been a majority of the men from the Eleventh Division which possibly meant two things. One – the ryoka was there and he or she are trapped by the group. Two – There was a runt from the Fourth Division, and he or she had the worst luck in the world.

Before Laria got to find out, the wall next to them blasted from a high powered attack. Her eyes widened comically when she was knocked off her feet, bodies landing on top of her into a huge dog pile.

_I can't breathe!_ Laria inwardly screeched, trying to struggle out of the weight. Wow, so this is how it feels to be crushed by Omaeda. A pair of reiatsu suddenly spooked Laria; one she clearly recognised and the other was odd, in other words, the unfamiliar reiatsu was probably the ryoka. _Aoki-san... what are you doing?_

Indeed, Hozumi folded his arms and raised a thick eyebrow towards the unfamiliar man. He was a human and he was tall, with a weird shaped arm. His skin colour was slightly darker than other people he's encountered but the realisation dawned on him just as quickly. He's seen people like this when he had gone to the living world for a basic hollow extermination.

"I see... You're Mexicano!" Hozumi exclaimed with a wide grin, it quickly faltered when he didn't hear a response from the ryoka. "Well, you're definitely too tall to be Laria-chan! So can I at least ask for your name Mexicano-kun?"

The taller figure frowned in confusion, as if he was trying to figure out Hozumi, "Yasutora Sado."

"Can I call you Chad-kun? You look like a Chad!" When he heard no reply from the giant, Hozumi let out a wide and cheery grin, "Chad-kun! It's nice to meet you, I'm Hozumi Aoki!" He replied, raising his hand for the human to shake. When he had no response, Hozumi removed his hand in disappointment. "I was just wondering, have you seen a little girl... brown hair, evil death glare?"*

This Chad person now looked simply terrified of the calmness from the shinigami. His visible eye blinked at Hozumi, who had remained grinning as if nothing was wrong in the world. "No..."

"Aw shucks..." Hozumi slammed his fist down to his hand, looking at the wounded beside him and ignored them. "If she isn't here then where the heck is Laria-chan?" Poor Hozumi, he was oblivious to that at the bottom of the dog pile behind Chad was Laria, still struggling for breath.

"Wait, Aoki!" The loud tone made Hozumi pause, blinking innocently towards the human. Did he do something wrong? "Rukia Kuchiki's location?"

This guy didn't appear to talk much. "Well... I honestly don't know where Rukia-chan is... but I can tell ya she went somewhere..." He pointed towards the direction of the white tower with a wide smirk, "Over there!"

"Thanks... for not making this difficult." Chad nodded his head with a thumbs up.

"No problem, Chad-kun... I'm not gonna lie – I could probably beat you, I just don't wanna deal with the burden of doing it myself." Hozumi grinned calmly at the teenager, though a part of him was amazed that this boy was way younger than he was and he towered over him no problem. "Take care; try to not run into any Captains."

Without another word, Chad blasted the wall with his weird looking arm and went on ahead, leaving Hozumi alone.

He turned away from the destruction, shoving his hands in his pockets with a lazy smirk, "What a nice kid, why can't the younger generation be like that more often-?"

_"Hado thirty-one: Shakkaho!"_

A sudden blast of reiatsu shot through the men in the dog pile, sending them flying from the explosion. The unseated officer widened his grey eyes in horror, looking over to see an enraged Laria standing on her two feet with a scary aura hovering over her as the men fell behind her like rain.

"I am not a third seat for nothing! Stop treating me like a child!" She snapped, the vein throbbing frighteningly on her forehead. For once, Hozumi had been speechless at the sight of the furious Laria, before realising another thing.

He had called Laria short right in front of her.

He had also let Chad run off without a fight.

A sweat drop went over his head.

This was going to be troublesome.

"Aoki-san..." Laria hissed in an angry tone, one that could match Captain Hitsugaya's when he was in one of his moods. The man let out a cheerful grin, trying to let the calming atmosphere appear before him, "What are you doing here and why did you let that ryoka go?"

Hozumi replied with the first thing that appeared in his mind, "I'm helping you find Tahani-chan, I'm not focused on fighting the ryoka?"

"Why did that sound like a question?"

He felt his face pale, realising that he was doomed but Hozumi knew how to distract his shorter friend. "Why did you sound like a question?" Oh dear spirit king, he was going to get killed. Sad thing was, he wasn't with a woman but an angered third seat.

-:-

_Damn Rukia, damn Ichigo, damn Ikkaku...DAMN 'EM ALL!_

She currently raced through the maze of Seireitei, looking for the baby strawberry that she so desperately wanted to fight. Why she couldn't fight him? Easy.

Just when she got use Ichigo's reiatsu, along with two other reiatsu – they had vanished. Almost as if no such reiatsu existed. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, but she suddenly recalled on Ichigo's true destination. If the kid was heading to save Rukia, she might as well meet him by the prison so that she didn't have to chase him around like some puppy.

Her legs were beginning to get heavy just as she raced towards the bottom of the tower. Now she had to climb the demon stairs, and if she didn't die after the stairs she will wait patiently for him. After all, Ichigo has to get there if he wants to save Rukia Kuchiki.

The fog in the air blocked her vision, making her scowl in annoyance at the haze. Why did her luck have to hate her? All she wanted was a fight.

_Damn it, all I ask is for that stupid strawberry! Is that too much to ask?!_ She snapped in her head, sensing a familiar reiatsu near her as the fog faded away. Tahani paused, spotting a flash of orange in front of her, making her widen her smirk.

"Ichigo!" Maybe luck didn't hate her so much afterwards. The kid had turned directly towards Tahani with a direct stare, making her flinch in confusion. This stare wasn't the same as the one she saw with Ikkaku, in fact... it was deeper than that. It took her another moment to realise that Ichigo wasn't alone, standing with Ichigo was the gorilla man and a runt that looked like he was going to cry.

"Blueberry?"

Okay luck still hated her. The new voice made Tahani widen her eyes in realisation. Her eyes noticed the flash of red hair tied up in a spiky ponytail as surprise appeared in her expression.

"Renji...?" Seeing the redhead scowl deeply in front of her, he noticed that Tahani didn't call him his ridiculous nickname. Her eyes perceived instead of the white headband that she was accustomed to seeing, a new pair of sunglasses were resting about his forehead to hide the tattoos. He better not whinge when they break.

"What are you doing here?" Renji finally asked, taking his eyes off her to glare at Ichigo, who seemed to be scowling at the taller man. Jeez, it was like two men were fighting in some stupid love triangle.

"I came to fight Ichigo, I've been waiting all day to." Tahani retorted with a dark sneer, reaching for the hilt of Aisutaiga. The hilt felt cool to touch with her fingers, like Tahani had been touching ice instead of her own weapon. Once she felt Ichigo's eyes on her, she scowled and glared back at him. Why wasn't he facing her in the battle? He would get killed if Ichigo wasn't careful.

"Sorry..." Ichigo muttered in a low voice, turning away from her. The woman widened her eyes in realisation, holding back a snarl. "Sorry Tahani, but Renji has been waiting longer." He explained, turning away from Tahani once more to face the redhead.

_If he had been the human that Rukia Kuchiki gave her powers to..._ Tahani remembered when they were going the sixth division over a fortnight ago, and Renji was almost furious with himself when he started to rant about a human brat. A human brat that got her powers – _They've fought before. _She gritted her teeth in fury before she glared back at the ground, "Hurry it up – I don't have all day to watch."

Renji had almost given Tahani a look of gratitude when she agreed but it disappeared instantly when Ichigo faced him again. The strawberry's glare was determined as if Ichigo knew that he was going to beat Renji.

_Nwah, I thought you wanted to fight. _The sly voice chuckled lowly at Tahani, making her scowl inwardly. This was the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. _What happens if the boy ends up killing him?_

Tahani's eyes hardened, her stare focused on Renji's expression. "Idiot..." She muttered in a low voice, too quiet for anyone else to hear it. _I won't let anyone kill anyone today – Renji is my friend and Ichigo owes me a fight._

_You're a pushover Tahani, don't think that you're going to get your way._ The voice exaggerated, giving a cold feeling to Tahani's skin. She shivered at first, then let her face morph into an annoyed scowl.

_Aisutaiga, ya stupid feline – don't talk to me as if ya care._

_Believe it or not Rosa, but I do care. _Aisutaiga muttered in a calm voice.

**A/n: And here is this week's chapter. More of a calm flowing chapter if you ask me but anyways I have a little message to a certain reviewer who thought about saying their opinion on this story.**

_**To semelekete oi oi: Um I would've made this a personal message but since you're a guest then I have no choice to put it down here. I'm not mad but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit confused and annoyed (also pride wounded). At first I was gonna let this slide and ignore it, but then I realised it could be slightly helpful. You say my story is boring yet you tell me to keep writing (not that I'm complaining) and then you say there's a lot of OOC. Next time, could you please tell me of how the bleach characters are OOC because I was trying to figure it out myself but then I nearly crashed (Not the smartest time to be daydreaming when driving but eh, it was so confusing to me!) The reason why it may seem less action packed than most stories is because I like to explore through my character's thoughts and feelings. It's known as character development where I'm from. It's the same in Bleach - most of the episodes at the beginning was about Ichigo chasing after hollows and learning about his new powers as well as learning about hollows and as the audience we learn that about some interesting facts about Ichigo and his family (even now we still learn about him in the manga). I do assure you that the action does pick up, but for now its either you stay patient or don't read it at all. It's not like I'm smacking your head towards the screen and demanding that you read my story. But all in all, I know there's OOC otherwise I wouldn't be reading fanfiction or writing it. I try my best to keep the characters as they are, so enlighten me and it may help the both of us in the future.**_

_**Oh before I sign off, let me give you a 'review' in return - please use apostrophes and correct spelling when you do write to me. Even though I'm being nice about this, I don't really like people criticising my work when they can't write to me properly. I'm half asleep when I read these reviews and I barely understand chat speak or whatever people call it nowadays when I'm awake.**_

_**That is my 'opinion' about that.**_

_**Good day to you *Tips hat***_

**_12/08/2013* _**


	6. Chapter 5: From the sidelines

**A/n: Okay, I know that this chapter wasn't posted up last week. For one, I've started College and I will be working on that - then the internet has been going crazy and finally... well... I've been helping my sister out with the baby shower for her next kid. So as you can see, I was pretty busy last week, at least that's over now :D Well except for College but its distant and I only have to do 20 hours each week. **

**Okie - next chapter **

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz  
**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 5: From the Sidelines**

"Pineapple..." The fourth seat muttered lowly, shuddering silently when the image of Renji losing flashed in her brain. She had full confidence for Renji, however there a hint of worry crossing her expression. This kid had managed to defeat Ikkaku, even though he was seat lower than Renji, he had been the one to train him. Unlike Renji, Tahani didn't go to Ikkaku to train but rather watch how he fought. Once she gathered his movements, she began developing her own way of fighting, it hadn't been mastered yet, but no one knows the way Tahani fought until they experience a fight from her.

As long as Tahani could remember, she's always seen Renji work hard with his shikai so that he could defeat Byakuya Kuchiki. Now this time, it looks like Renji had been training his entire life for this moment. The fourth seat narrowed her eyes at the comments that the males spat out.

Hearing a question from the gorilla man, Tahani raised an eyebrow and glanced over towards him. Her brow furrowed into a glare, watching as the terrified runt stammered in his speech as if he had feared that something would rip out his throat before he had a chance to move.

"Who is that guy? His reiatsu is on a different scale than the other so far..." Gorilla man grunted, eyes were still wide with horror, unaware that Tahani's lips formed a cocky smirk. Wow, if they are terrified of Renji, than Tahani would like to look at their faces when Kenpachi would come around. Even dealing with a captain like Komamura would be frightening. So not all of the ryoka were geniuses as most had assumed since they managed to break in so easily– if they didn't do any research on their enemies then there was a heck load of things that they were missing.

The runt from the fourth division gulped nervously, trembling at the very sight in front of him, Tahani noticed that his entire body was tensed from the reiatsu pouring out. "That man..." He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut in complete fear.

"Why are ya scared of Renji Abarai?" Tahani questioned with a raised eyebrow, silencing the two onlookers. "He's a lieutenant of the sixth division, not a captain... It's not like the lieutenants know bankai anyways. Beside's Renji's got nothing on Captain Zaraki."

It took a moment for the gorilla man to comprehend on the situation he had with the woman but when he did, his eyes widened. "Wait a minute! You're that gal that was friends with the baldy and the pretty boy!" Once again realisation dawned on him, making him whip his head towards Renji, "So this guy's a lieutenant?!"

"I know you..." The boy from the fourth division noted nervously, "You're Tahani Rosa, fourth seat of the eleventh division."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call me... friends with those two idiots." Tahani replied with a flamboyant grin, before mockingly bowed to the males, her smirk darkened with glee. "I am so glad that ya know me from my reputation, here I was thinking that I needed to introduce myself!" Her eyes flashed in amusement, raising her head to stare at the guys again. "Now, introduce ya self."

Gorilla man gave a hard look towards the fourth seat, narrowing his eyes warily, "Ganju Shiba." He rasped, acting as if he was going to bolt any moment.

"Hanataro Yamada," The scrawny runt stammered his eyes still wide with fright.

"Now nice to meet ya!" Tahani smirked, folding her arms to watch the two shinigami males in their glaring contest, "Don't worry, I have no intention on killing ya. Ya death's ain't worth my time." She sensed that the Hanataro boy relaxed slightly, but he watched Ichigo with a worried expression. Ganju glared at Tahani for another moment, muttering something about hating shinigami. She felt flash of angry reiatsu from the gorilla, noticing that he had a dark look that could mean that he could not stand the sight of her.

Well, it's no surprise that shinigami were hated, it wasn't uncommon for Rukongai to hate shinigami, after all they had plenty of enemies. A dark sneer appeared on her face, witnessing both weaklings widening their eyes in recognition. Her eyes briefly scanned the reiatsu that they possessed; Gorilla-man was just stronger than the runt, how cute. They weren't even worth the challenge. Her eyes narrowed seriously once she was directed into the fight again, kind of curious to who would win. Now, Tahani had her money on Renji. He has been a shinigami much longer than Ichigo, and he had proper training to help him. Ichigo on the other hand hasn't even been a shinigami for half a year.

"I'm honestly surprised," Renji began with a scowl, smoothly striding his path as he approached Ichigo. "I thought you would've died with Captain Kuchiki's attack."

Therefore, Tahani had been right when she thought that they had fought before, however it surprised her when she realised that Captain Kuchiki managed to get into the fight. If the captain of the sixth division had to join in the fight that would have meant that this kid wasn't normal. That meant Renji _did _struggle in his first fight – now that they were in Soul Society, Renji will have a chance since his power is restricted in the living world.

_But how much strength does this kid have?_

Gorilla man's – Ganju's shout, "Wait a minute, Ichigo", disrupted her deep thoughts. A scowl was brought on her face, annoyed that she was disrupted from her thinking. Tahani raised an eyebrow when she heard a shout from Gorilla-Ganju, telling Ichigo to stop and actually think about this.

There wasn't anything to think about, Renji and Ichigo were gonna clash eventually, even if the strawberry wasn't going to win. Considering that Ichigo fought Renji while he was restricted from using his true strength.

"I don't know how you survived, but I admit that I'm impressed," The lieutenant continued, reaching down to clutch onto Zabimaru's hilt. "There, you got my compliments."

Tahani watched the two slowly approach each other with dark glares, astonished of how calm they were despite their looks were deadly. She should've brought some of that human entertainment food... what was it called again? ... Cornpop... wait no... Popcorn, that's it! She should've brought some popcorn to watch this fight. Zabimaru let out a faint hiss as its blade hauled itself out of the sheath – that's when Tahani knew that Renji wasn't in a playful mood. He was dead serious.

"Unfortunately for you, this is the end. I told you already – that I am gonna kill the bastard who took Rukia's powers!" Renji seethed, his feet were moving at a faster pace by now and Ichigo had already responded by revealing his unique shaped zanpakuto with a hard stare. Neither of the males were aware of the annoyance that flashed in Tahani's eyes. "As long as you're alive, Rukia's powers won't return!" Once again, it was all about Rukia. Jeez, it sounded like she was some Mary-sue in some dumb manga and everyone fought for her.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Ichigo snapped back fiercely, raising the blade into the air to strike at Renji. "You brought her back _to _kill her! I'm gonna pass!"

"Just try it! If you can beat me first!" Renji's weapon collided with Ichigo's, creating sparks in between swords. They pushed their weapons to the limit, trying to at least overthrow the other. Tahani widened her eyes with an astounded smirk – if this fight is entertaining enough, maybe she'll be satisfied in letting Ichigo go. Tahani felt the reiatsu pour excessively from the duo, almost having difficulty just trying to breath. Her eyes darted toward Ganju and Hanataro, they both were struggling to move from their spots. Their attacks landed with heavy blows, sparks appeared in between and the steel rang throughout the battle.

-:-

"Out of all the places you could have hit me..." Hozumi moaned, limping while one of his hands was clutched protectively around his... private place. The look that Hozumi received from Laria was frightening, making him flinch with wide eyes. "I mean... We should find Ikkaku-kun!"

Laria moved her eyes away from Hozumi and nodded in response. They needed to get to Ikkaku, now they were walking through the barracks to find the bald third seat. Her eyes narrowed when she sensed the reiatsu battles throughout Seireitei – this was getting too dangerous for her liking. If only she could find Tahani, just to get her away from the fights, Laria can begin her new task. As far as she knows, Hozumi looks like he still hasn't figured it out but she's been surprised by the taller man before.

"Laria-chan!"

Speaking of the devil.

"He's in this room!" He grinned to rush into the room, with Laria following silently, resisting the urge to roll her eyes but she kept that to herself. When she entered the room, she noticed that Ikkaku was facing the opposite direction, with the blankets drawn over his body. Laria was going to ask calmly for Ikkaku's attention, but Hozumi already beat him to the punch. "Ikkaku-kun!"

The bald third seat glowered over their direction, not before softly mentioning something about a runt standing with a lunatic. Hozumi had grinned naively, leaving Laria to release the annoyed sigh before focusing on Ikkaku.

"Madarame-san, you know why we're here."

Ikkaku narrowed his eyes to stare back at the Alfero, his brow furrowed into an annoyed line. "Rosa's gone to fight someone – I don't know who, but she wants to have a good fight with them."

Hozumi folded his arms with a frown, "Well that doesn't help us at all." He turned, about to leave the room when Laria's hand shot up to clutch onto his arm. "Laria-chan?"

"Madarame-san, I do not care about fighting the ryoka – just tell me where Tahani has gone to." Laria hissed, eyes flashing with irritation. She knew that he knows something of her location, even if she had gotten the name of the ryoka so she could track him down.

Her plea was responded with silence at first, and Laria feared that he wasn't going to talk, but it all changed when she heard him curse in annoyance.

"She went after the Kuchiki-hime."

"Rukia-chan?" Hozumi tilted his head in confusion, remembering his conversation with Chad. He sort of hoped that the human didn't hurt himself, there wasn't many people like him nowadays. It would be a waste of a life.

"Since when did Tahani care about Kuchiki-san?" Laria inquired, narrowing her eyes down at the bald man. She knew that Tahani didn't like Rukia, and had a low tolerance from the Kuchiki. Tahani never changed her opinions about people overnight.

"She doesn't," Ikkaku responded dryly, narrowing his eyes to meet Laria's, "All Rosa wants is to fight Ichigo. She won't ever care to what happens to those that are in the way."

Hozumi raised his hand up like a confused child, "I'm sorry Ikkaku-kun, but Ichi-who?"

"Of course an idiot like you wouldn't understand..." Ikkaku muttered, rolling his eyes at the pout that Hozumi showed. "Ichigo Kurosaki is the ryoka that Rosa is after, you find him – you are bound to meet her eventually."

"That is all. Thank you for your co-operation Madarame-san." Laria gave a nod calmly and turned away from the older third seat as she exited the room. She paused once she left the room, eyes narrowing warily as she sensed a particular reiatsu.

Hozumi grinned childishly, "See ya, Ikkaku-kun!" He waved, oblivious to the bald third seat rolling his eyes and wishing silence to the unseated officer.

-:-

Tahani let out a bored yawn after she watched the blades clash. Her eyes glazed over towards Ganju and Hanataro, who were watching the fight with worry and fear on their faces. So far the way this fight was going was as interesting as it was the last few times the swords collided.

Weirdos.

Clash.

Ichigo managed to push back with extra force, sparking an excitement from Tahani but quickly got bored again. Why couldn't Renji just release Zabimaru and get it over and done with? Instead of wasting their time like brats.

"Ichigo, he's a lieutenant!" Ganju stammered with his rasped voice, unaware that Tahani looked over to him with a cocky smirk. "No matter how strong you have gotten... you can't possibly win..."

"That kid's got some reliable friends." She commented sarcastically, gaining the attention from the males. "I mean – his own comrades won't support him. At least I have dignity to support Renji in his fight – well then again, I always do go for the winning team. Ichigo won't win this fight."

"No that might not be the case." Hanataro admitted, silencing the fourth seat and stopping her smile, "Just look at Ichigo-san."

Tahani's eyes briefed over towards the fighters, noticing that Ichigo might have a chance to win. He used the remaining strength he had to push him into the wall, making Tahani slightly flinch. However, Tahani knew that she was just being paranoid. Renji didn't even release his zanpakuto yet and once it was, Ichigo was doomed.

"Amazing! He's completely overwhelming Lieutenant Abarai!" The boy exclaimed with a wide grin, unaware that Tahani rolled her eyes at the naive kid.

"What the heck is he?" Ganju muttered in a low voice, narrowing his eyes. Tahani looked over to the man with a raised eyebrow. So it wasn't just her asking that question, there was something weird going on with that kid.

"Did I happen to forget to mention that his zanpakuto hasn't been released yet?" The fourth seat wondered innocently, her dark sneer expanded once she noticed the males widening their eyes in realisation. As if he had heard her through the fighting, Renji pushed Ichigo back with brute force, sending the kid flying through the air.

_Cue the release._ Tahani thought, snickering as Renji positioned Zabimaru with his glare fixated on Ichigo's wide eyes.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

Upon command the sword took its own shape of a segmented blade before he lashed out the giant weapon towards Ichigo's direction. He barely had any time to react, considering that he was still in the air but Ichigo raised his zanpakuto in front of himself to defend. Once Renji struck Ichigo's blade, he sent the kid flying towards the audience.

The fourth seat looked at her nails with a blank expression as she walked calmly out of the way, ignoring the terrified shrieks from the males as they dashed out of Ichigo's path. He let out a pained groan as he crashed through the building that the audience were only standing in front of a few moments ago.

"Told ya, Ichigo can't win. Renji is a lieutenant," She sneered sweetly, removing her gaze from her nails to watch the shocked expressions of the males.

"Ichigo!" Ganju yelped with his eyes flashing in deep concern. Did these guys really think that Ichigo would be able to stand an attack like that so easily? Giving another look to the horrified males, she inwardly decided that these guys were the idiots.

Zabimaru retracted from the wall, slowly fixing itself into its original shape. Tahani had to give it to the kid; he did pretty well to be able to beat Ikkaku and fight of Renji for a short moment. Now Renji should stop being so damn depressing, his glum attitude was starting to rub onto her. The more he got depressed, the more Tahani showed that she actually cared for the redhead. A scowl formed on her face harshly, before focusing on the rant that Renji had to go through in order to either annoy Ichigo or just rub it in his face that he couldn't win.

"Apparently, you think because we fought once, you know my real power." Renji started with his voice quite loud, and then he approached the destroyed building. "Let me tell you something," He lowered his weapon, "When shinigami of lieutenant rank or higher go into the living world, we get our power extremely limited in order not to cause unnecessary influence there. My power now is five times what is was then." He stopped, the wind ruffled with his hair furiously. "No matter how much stronger you've gotten, you don't even have a one in a million chance of beating me."

Now that was dramatic. Tahani rolled her eyes, folding her arms in front of her chest again. Why won't the talking stop? One of them falls and then Tahani's turn to battle. Then again, knowing her luck, they would both be so injured that she won't be able to fight.

Pain in the ass.

"Huh?" The voice came from the building, stopping Tahani's cocky attitude instantly. Tahani's eyes slightly widened once she sensed Ichigo's reiatsu flicker up. So the kid was still alive after that? He's getting more interesting every second. "Which means that last one... is your real power?" Ichigo continued, limping out of the freshly made hole, holding onto the giant blade over his shoulder, "That didn't hurt at all!" Blood trickled down his head, making Tahani narrow her eyes. "I didn't expect it was gonna be eleven guys like you – I know I can get through them now."

Well Tahani isn't so sure about that... The strongest lieutenant, Tahani would have to admit was probably... okay she didn't really know who the strongest is. However there was one thing Tahani knew well – Chojiro Sasikibe was not that lieutenant.

Maybe Shuhei... or Izuru... Iba had been from the eleventh division in the past... maybe even him...

"Stupid bastard, I'm definitely gonna kill ya."

Haha... Tahani's words were starting to rub onto Renji.

"Hey Ichigo..." Ganju muttered in a low voice, wincing once he notice the blood drip from his face.

"Are you alright?" Hanataro wondered uncomfortably, wincing along with the gorilla man at the sight of the blood.

"This? This is nothing!" Ichigo responded to his ally, smirking once he noticed Renji stiffen in irritation. Now Tahani has known Renji for three and a half decades, so she can see how he reacts when he loses a game. When the duo sparred together, and Tahani came back up to beat the crap out of him, she knew how frustrated he got because he was beaten. Then he would use that lameass excuse.

_"I won't lay a hand on a woman, even if it's you Rosa."_

Tahani then had to force him to train with her, a pain in the ass if she were to give an opinion.

Anyways, let's just say Renji was pissed off that Ichigo could stand.

"This is incredible!" Hanataro stuttered with admiration flashing his eyes, "I can't believe he's standing in that condition." He shivered, but continued to watch the fight with hope sparking in his eyes, unaware that Tahani was glaring at him from her spot.

But how was Ichigo still standing? Considering that he couldn't properly defend himself in the air, then sent crashing into a concrete wall – by Renji to make it worse. It was like that redhead was born to be some sort of horse. In fact the only other people she's heard that had excelled strength with Captain Zaraki and Captain Komamura. Her thoughts were quickly distracted once she spotted something odd in Ichigo's legs.

A wobble.

_So he is bluffing..._

"You might still be able to talk trash, but all you can do is just stand!" Renji charged towards his opponent, lashing out at any chance he could get. Once again Tahani got bored of watching, until Zabimaru had planted into the dirt and forced dirt to fly into the air. "This is your fault! If you didn't exist, if Rukia didn't meet you... She wouldn't have to go through with this!"

At the mention of the Kuchiki princess, Tahani narrowed her eyes darkly to show her annoyance. Why had he been so intent on killing Ichigo? Because of Rukia Kuchiki? No, by reading his facial expression – it was deeper than that. Suddenly like magic, the whole resolve seemed to click onto the fourth seat. Many people assumed that because Tahani was from the eleventh division she was meant to be a pure idiot, but that wasn't the case. Of course Tahani wasn't the smartest of the bunch, but she was observant and if you live as a shinigami you have to be observant.

Renji was blaming himself for the incident and taking his anger out on the poor strawberry.

"Stupid pineapple ya never think, do ya?" Tahani grumbled, a frown forming on her face. Why was this guy so damn emotional? It was never his fault for letting Rukia go, he just wanted her to have the best though he should've told her that she should choose from what feels right. If Laria was ever in Rukia's situation... _No!_ She shook her head with a scowl, keeping her eyes focused on the fight. _It never will happen, so it doesn't matter now._

"Run Ichigo!"

Ganju's voice panicked, disrupting Tahani from her thoughts. She hated it whenever someone did that, it irritated her to no end. Her head whirled to face both of the males, Hanataro had been the first to notice, whimpering at the sight of Tahani's glare before Ganju widened his eyes.

"I want ya to shut the hell up." She spat, leering darkly at the males, "Neither of 'em will die as long as I'm here, so stop bitching about like pansies and just watch this damn fight!" Tahani turned away from the duo, hand clutching protectively on Aisutaiga's hilt. "'Cause if ya don't, I will slice off ya tongues before ya can say reiatsu."

Both of the males seemed to understand Tahani's threat, and they both went to watch in silence. Ichigo was still fleeing from Renji's brutal attacks. What a little liar, Tahani scoffed at the idea of the strawberry 'getting through the lieutenants' if he can't even stand up against one.

"This is pointless to begin with..."

Oh for the love of Spirit King. She was gonna do it if the runt didn't shut up-

"Picking a fight with a lieutenant-!" Hanataro suddenly flinched when Tahani was in front of him, her zanpakuto was pointing directly to his face with a deadly look in her eye. His eyes widened in horror, trying to gulp but found it impossible. When Tahani pulled her weapon to sheath it safely away from him, he relaxed but still stared with wide eyes.

"Consider that ya warning, runt – next time, I will not be nice." Tahani swore, walking back to her original spot to continue watching the fight. _Renji... what is running through that pineapple head of yas?_

-:-

The reiatsu had been bothering Laria for quite some time now, but since she knew Tahani very well she had quicken her pace. Unfortunately, Tahani was with the ryoka that Ikkaku had told them about, and he was fighting with Renji at the moment.

If he was somehow much more powerful that Renji, Laria knew that Tahani would get involved with the fight. It gave the third seat a heavy feeling in her stomach, and she knew that she wasn't going to get through to Tahani alone. Hozumi had been surprisingly quiet since he visited Ikkaku from the fourth division, not once complaining about using shunpo.

"Laria-chan, Aoki-kun!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Laria immediately halted with a hard gaze, followed by Hozumi who tilted his head in confusion. The two newcomers jogged towards Laria and Hozumi, both of them quickly dawning on Laria.

"Kira-san, Hinamori-san... what's going on?" Something made Laria raise an eyebrow, once she noticed a familiar lieutenant badge. "Wait a minute-!" She realised once she saw the familiar symbol.

"Renji-kun's lieutenant badge? When did that get there?" Hozumi wondered curiously, frowning in confusion at the badge.

"We need to find Tahani; once we find her we will find Abarai-san." Laria replied with narrowed eyes towards Izuru, recalling her mission that was assigned to her by the captain. She needed to stay with him more often and not make it look obvious. Though this wasn't an easy task, Laria believed that she could do it now that the ryoka business was going on.

"Alfero-chan, Aoki-kun..." Izuru muttered softly, gaining the third seat's and the unseated officer's attention. "I am heading out with a team to get Abarai-kun, you should come with."

It wasn't a question, Laria knew it would be a good idea to at least follow along. If then, she could try to get Izuru to spill so information – even if it is by accident.

"Right... let's go, Aoki-san."

-:-

"The unbridgeable gap in power between you and me... is just that, plain and simple." Renji explained darkly, standing taller above the injured Ichigo.

Let's recap:

It appeared as if Ichigo had noticed the disadvantage in Renji's attack where it takes three lashes before he has to return Zabimaru in its original state. When Ichigo tried to use that to his benefit, Renji had easily dodged the attack and struck him in the shoulder. Tahani who had been watching with an interested gaze slightly winced when she saw the blade dig into his shoulder.

She's had that injury before, and it hurt like hell.

Now Ichigo was staring at something with wide eyes, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong.

"Understand me? I told you, that you can't save Rukia." He seethed, raising Zabimaru above Ichigo's head. Another realisation hit Tahani, her brow furrowed together and she let out an annoyed sigh.

Renji probably felt like he had to test himself, before he went to rescue Rukia. She is well aware that he's going to do it – the redhead's practically announcing it to the world. His face hardened, which would look identical to Byakuya's face as he raised his weapon in the sky.

"Didn't you say you would stop him?!" Ganju snapped towards Tahani's direction. The fourth seat raised an eyebrow, before she quickly remembered that she had promised that Ichigo wouldn't die while she was around.

"He's fine, don't worry so much." Tahani replied with a lazy shrug, but she kept a distinct look towards Renji, furrowing her brow with worry. _Ya better save ya self kid, otherwise I might step in._

Just as Renji slammed the blade down to meet Ichigo's skull, his blade was interrupted by a single katana. Ichigo's eyes widened in shock, but so did the other males of the area. Renji's eyes, however were the most horrified.

"Rosa..." Renji stuttered with wide eyes, watching the fourth seat hold him off with slight difficulty. He had always been stronger than her physically, but this one time – Tahani had to hold him off so that he didn't kill her. Her life was on the line, "Why?"

"No one's dying today – I promised that and I intend to keep it." Tahani replied, gritting her teeth as he started to overpower her, "Ya gotta stop taking it out on this kid, he didn't do anything."

Damn, this wasn't going as she planned.

Luckily for her, Renji pulled away – almost brutally as his eyes flashed with betrayal. "He's the reason why Rukia's locked up! I'm gonna kill him!"

"For once in ya damn life, think dumbass! If he hadn't felt responsible, then he wouldn't have bothered on coming here! So instead of being a complete jerk from some manga, help him save her." She retorted with a harsh glare, which seemed to have startled him for a brief moment. A smirk crossed over her features at that moment – that was the cue to leave. "Hado thirty-one..." The female muttered in a low voice, as a faint red glow flashed in her free hand. Renji quickly realised on her intentions and he immediately braced himself. "...Shakkaho!"

Her attack exploded in her hands, giving her enough impact to blast Renji off his feet and send her flying over Ichigo. She crashed behind him, rolling over the ruins and grazing her joints as she settled. Fortunately, Tahani wasn't badly injured, her face had been completely covered in soot, with faints burns on her arms.

"Tahani..." Ichigo muttered in a low voice, gaining her attention with a blank stare. He perched his large zanpakuto over his shoulder, and Tahani could feel the boost from his reiatsu. It was astounding of how much he produced, "Thank you – but I'll take care of it for now on. I do owe you a match."

Oh crap. Did she just help the ryoka win the match she was betting against?

"Just fight dammit," She grumbled, cleaning the dirt off her face. One of Tahani's worst classes – correction – _Tahani's worst class_ happened to be kido because of the lack of control in her wild reiatsu. It either reversed on her or blew up in her face.

"Are you okay, Fourth Seat?"

Tahani whipped her head towards the direction of the runt, who was slightly smiling as he raised his hands to heal the slight burns and grazes on her arm. Wow, Tahani never thought Kido would go this far into damaging her.

"Get off me..." She hissed, pushing herself to her feet. The wound only stung a little, and even then, it barely bothered her, "And be quiet so I can watch this in peace."

"There's something different about him..." Hanataro realised, watching Ichigo's reiatsu coat his body, "It's completely different from a second ago."

Tahani hated to admit it but the runt was right – Ichigo was different. Unlike a few moments ago, Ichigo was completely confident in his skills. It was like something possessed him a second later than her encounter. Renji had recovered from Tahani's stunt; a part of his face covered with soot.

"Sorry Renji," This new confident Ichigo commented calmly, watching as Renji snarled in irritation. "This is my resolve – I will cut you this time!" Renji only release a war cry, both of the fighters clashing their weapons to harm the other.

Tahani was starting to feel intense by the constant reiatsu rise coming from Ichigo, and it amazed her that he was still growing. Maybe she was wrong in the first place – Renji would've lost even if she didn't intervene. She wasn't going to get the fight she wanted, but she knew Kenpachi sure as hell will.

"And if I'm attacking, I'll cut you."

_He won't die while I'm on the watch._

Renji let out a hiss in irritation as he intended on attack, "You-!" A bright light interrupted him, just as a pure energy cut through Renji's chest and sent him flying into a rock. His crimson hair let loose, covering the majority of his face.

Tahani's eyes narrowed sharply when she heard the lieutenant curse. So Renji lost this fight... now she was sure that Ichigo would be a proud challenge.

**A/n: Well I'm sleepy, I'll try posting next chapter next week ;)**

**Fact: Did you guys know that my sister was given a dog originally named 'Snuggles'? When I met this dog for the first time, it turned out that her partner was too embarrassed by having a name like that so he changed her name to Tani. Literally. When I found out, I practically yelled out "Have you been reading my Fanfiction and stories again?!" I remember that my sister gave me the weirdest look towards me**

**_26/08/2013* _**


	7. Chapter 6: Reflection from the Tiger

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites - they just brighten my day. Anyways, here I am... Before you guys read, I'm gonna warn ya that this chapter has a bit of first person in it. Since I haven't written first person since last year, so my writing may be slightly... different (By the way, it was a complete struggle - I don't even know why I did it)**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 6: Reflection from the Tiger**

Hozumi drew his eyebrows together in consideration when he watched Laria run next to Izuru in silence. He wondered on what was going on – there were slight changes in her behaviour. People who knew her well could notice these differences, people that she wasn't really close with, dismissed her actions before they questioned it.

_Maybe she's acting different because of the reiatsu – Tahani-chan had interrupted the fight at some point - but now it feels like she's not fighting._

His eyes briefed over to Izuru, who seemed intent on rescuing Renji but then moved on Laria who looked like she was focused on more than one task. Earlier she told Hozumi to apologise to Captain Hitsugaya, but for what? He didn't bother reporting the incident to the Captain, because he was still confused on why she had run off with regret.

There was nothing shameful in rescuing a best friend – Hozumi would gladly do it for either of them.

Since the fight started, Renji's reiatsu had shot up and down as if he was confused but after a final burst from the opponent, his reiatsu went down. Fortunately for them, the enemy's reiatsu went down as well – slowing reducing to declare that the ryoka was weakened and vulnerable.

Now Hozumi and Laria knew Tahani would let the ryoka go if she was still interested in a fight but the rest of the group didn't – so they were in the surprise for their lives.

The search group raced up the stairs to find that Tahani was raising the unconscious lieutenant to his feet, with a few injuries on her arms and black soot smudged against her skin. Hozumi grinned sheepishly, realising that Tahani used kido again.

A scowl was brought on the fourth seat's face when she heard the shout of alarm. She struggled in carrying Renji, limping with his heavy weight dragging her down.

"Tahani-chan!" Hozumi yelled out with a wide grin, ignoring Izuru's orders on getting a stretcher for Renji. He noticed that Laria's eyes softened for a moment, before turning cold again when Hozumi helped Tahani pick up Renji.

Wow.

He was heavy.

"What the heck are ya doing here?" Tahani seethed, glaring at Hozumi with annoyance. If the unseated officer knew one thing, it was that Tahani hated to get help, but accepted it nonetheless.

"We came to help you, Tahani." Laria's voice interrupted, her stern face was indicating that she was worried for the raven haired woman, "We know how carried away you can get."

The raven haired woman smirked, as the stretcher appeared in front of them and with Hozumi's (dare she admits it) help, they placed Renji on the stretcher. It was someone else's problem now.

Hozumi tilted his head when he noticed Tahani's arms shake. At first, he assumed that it was an after effect of using untrained kido but then he noticed the twinkle in her eyes. She was excited, trying to calm down from the rush of adrenaline. Izuru looked over to Renji's large figure before he raised his hands in front of him to let out a faint green glow.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to stop his body from critical injury. "We need to get Abarai-kun out of here." The blonde haired lieutenant warned, watching as his search group lifted the stretch. "The sooner the better and Rosa-san." Mentioning Tahani's name made her raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's wrong now?" She grumbled as she folded her arms comfortably.

"We need to get the details of the ryoka, we know you were there with Abarai-kun during the fight."

Hozumi looked towards Tahani, who looked like she was cursing her head in annoyance but she rolled her eyes in agreement.

"Whatev."

-:-

"What? Lock Abarai-kun and Rosa-san up?" Momo wondered with confused eyes.

Tahani widened her eyes to snarl at the ever so _graceful_ – don't ignore the sarcasm – Byakuya Kuchiki who was blankly staring at the small group. Who was Captain Kuchiki to order her lock up? Even though he was a captain, Tahani would never work for him – in fact, the very idea made Tahani sick. No wonder Captain Zaraki hated him so much.

Asshole.

"I will not repeat myself," The nobleman responded coldly, his eyes hardened at the sight of Tahani who widened her snarl.

"Captain Kuchiki..." Laria began with a hard voice; Tahani noticed the strain in her tone that Laria was struggling to carry out with the order. "With all due respect, I cannot go with your wishes to lock up Tahani Rosa."

Tahani had to admit, she was flattered when Laria defended her – especially in front of a captain like Byakuya. Byakuya looked over to Laria, his face remained unfazed as he looked down at the young third seat. "Is it that you cannot obey... or you won't? I will not hesitate in locking you up with her." Laria's eyes widened visibly and stiffened defensively, but she felt her breath come to a stop when Tahani grabbed onto Laria's shoulder with a faint smirk.

"Don't worry Laria, just listen to him – it's all part of my plan." The fourth seat intended, her smirk slightly widening when Laria's eyes narrowed.

Truth be told, Tahani had no plan whatsoever. However, the last thing Tahani wanted was Laria to get in trouble for her actions. Byakuya found Tahani to be irresponsible for letting Ichigo go, but she didn't care. He owes her a fight, dammit and he was better to fight alive than dead.

"Alright..." Laria replied silently, clutching on Tahani's arm. Tahani didn't react, but when she saw the worried look from Hozumi, Tahani let out a sigh.

"Don't worry Hozumi – I will survive." She added, smirking when Hozumi grinned back.

"I will tell Captain Hitsugaya of your location!" Hozumi reminded the third seat, Tahani noticed Laria stiffen in her grasp. That was something Tahani had to ask about.

"But Captain Kuchiki!" Momo protested fiercely, her eyes hardening with realisation, bringing Renji back up again "Abarai-kun needs to go to the Fourth Division immediately-!" She was suddenly cut by Izuru's hand who immediately bowed lowly.

"Forgive us, Captain Kuchiki," The lieutenant of the third division spoke quietly.

Before Tahani could watch any more drama, Laria hauled Tahani out of the room and headed towards the cells of the sixth division. Normally, Laria would've taken her to the tenth division – but Tahani assumed that Byakuya thought that she was going to release her if she exited the division. Her eyes narrowed at the thoughts of Renji, recalling his injuries that Ichigo gave him.

_"Kurosaki," Renji spat with disdain, tightly holding the shihakusho with a scowl, "As much as I hate to admit it, Rosa is right!" Tahani couldn't help but smirk with pride when she heard the proud lieutenant fess up. "This is pathetic and shameful of me to ask, but you have to do it!"_

_"Renji ya bloody idiot..." The fourth seat's smirk widened slightly at his desperate words. _

_"Rukia! Save Rukia for me!" Renji cried out as he looked straight into Ichigo's eyes. Ichigo did not bother to fight from Renji's grip – in fact, he remained still, staring down at his defeated enemy with pity flashing in his eyes. _

_"I will," The carrot-top swore softly. Renji eventually lost the will to stay conscious and he finally collapsed to announce his loss. Tahani sighed lazily, walking towards the duo with a lazy smirk forming over her face as she noticed Ichigo stiffening at her approach._

_"Alright, ya pulled a heart string or two kiddo," Tahani muttered plainly as Ichigo fell to the ground in exhaustion. She looked towards the two males from the sidelines, her eyes hardened, "Save the kid and if he survives, tell 'im to watch out for Captain Zaraki, I bet the captain will have a bloody thrill." They looked as if she was speaking of another language, which made Tahani scowl in annoyance, "Are ya stupid? Hurry up before someone important comes here!"_

_Hanataro snapped out of his daze and nodded sheepishly, letting Ganju pick up the unconscious strawberry, "Wait," The runt paused to look at Tahani. "What about you, Fourth Seat?" _

_Tahani smirked crookedly and lifted Renji's arm over her body, "Can't ya see I'm a bit busy dealing with this idiot? Make sure ya tell Ichigo that he owes me a fight, it better not be a waste of my time or I might regret letting ya go," The trio disappeared as if they were a ghost, which left Tahani alone with Renji. His blood was dripping all over her body, which made her roll her eyes in annoyance. No matter the situation, she still has to carry back his half-dead body. Life surely hated her._

"Sorry Tahani..." Tahani's thoughts were interrupted by Laria's quiet mutter. She looked over to Laria with a frown, seeing that the brunette was giving her a hard stare with her chestnut eyes, "But I will need to restrain your reiatsu and take Aisutaiga."

Tahani stiffened at the thought of losing her weapon. There _wasn't _a time where Tahani would not be with her zanpakuto – even when she was having a bath. It was a requirement for her, to always carry around the blade as if her life depended on it. Giving her weapon away was going to drive her nuts, but since it was Laria, Tahani trusted the third seat with Aisutaiga more than anyone.

"Alright." She muttered, untying Aisutaiga from her obi before place the weapon in Laria's outstretched hand. Laria accepted the zanpakuto and grabbed the restraints, shackling Tahani's wrists with a rueful expression before closing the fourth seat in the cell.

"Tahani... please don't try anything – Captain Kuchiki will let you off soon; there's too much trouble for him to keep you in this cell."

The fourth seat leaned back on the bed, smirking slightly as she repeated the words in her head, "It's not like I can do anything with my weapon gone." Laria slightly smiled at the humour and she headed out of the room, placing her hand on the door- "Wait. I've gotta question."

"Hm..?" This made Laria turn back with a partly confused expression, but she patiently waiting for the issue nevertheless.

"Is there something going on with ya Laria?" Tahani noticed the surprise flashing in Laria's eyes, before inwardly confirming it for herself. So it was something that was bothering her.

"I'm sorry... but I can't tell you Tahani..." Laria mumbled, in which surprised Tahani. "But let me ask you something... and I want you to think about it," Tahani tilted her head with puzzlement. "Why was it so important for you to have a battle?" Tahani's eyes expanded in response, unable to say anymore because Laria immediately left the room

"I wonder what was going on with her." The woman muttered to herself in the lonely cell, chained down by dumb restraints and lost the one thing that made her comfortable. It could've been worse...

She was alone, with no one here to bother her and she couldn't use anything to break out. This only means one thing...

"Great... thinking time." Tahani got comfortable on the bed and focused on the ceiling, trying to count the amount of cracks in the wall. So what did Laria mean about battles being important? They were important because Tahani proved that she was strong, and she needed to be stronger to be the best.

But why must she love battles?

Fighting has been something that Tahani had been good at for her entire life. It was like she was born to fight, to watch her opponents stagger in surprise of her fights. She never had to learn how to fight, it came upon instinct – it most likely originated from the idea of having her life on the line. From the moment she first opened her eyes to see the world of Soul Society, it was like she was destined to fight.

**_-:-_**

I never knew much about myself – well maybe the obvious things. My name's Tahani Rosa, and I am a soul of Inuzuri – my home. Nevertheless, I could not remember much such as why I hated the heat, or why the idea of someone's blood on my sword was the greatest thing, I had ever considered.

When I recalled my first memory of Soul Society, I had been nothing but a girl just bigger that Laria – I was gasping for air and clutching a blue hilt katana covered in blood as if my life depended on it. Screams of agony filled my ears, lightening the pit of my stomach and tingling my nerves. My skull pounded, as if I was recovering from a major head wound.

"Please, please _Chitora_!"

The unusual voice brought a confused frown on my face, when I noticed the man on the ground, staring at me in complete and utter fear. Sweat covered his face, which was when I noticed something odd about his leg.

It had been half a stump, and covered in crimson liquid.

"Shit..." I breathed, kneeling down to observe the wound but this man had let out another shout and crawled away from me. His body began to shake violently, groaning as he pulled back again.

"Chitora, I promise – I will never look at you again."

Was he talking to me? But that wasn't possible, my name was Tahani... not Chitora. Honestly, who names their kid Blood Tiger? My eyes looked towards the blood-coated blade, and I put the pieces together. Did I do this to him? But... when did I hurt him? I can't remember ever holding onto this sword – however... this blade, I felt a strong attachment to it. Like it was another me inside the sword.

"Chitora!"

My name's Tahani!

"Leave."

The man jolted in surprise, but he obeyed immediately at the sound of my voice. He crawled onto his foot with difficulty, but grabbed a strong stick to help him limp away. His eyes refused to meet mine, and now... I was only confused of his fear.

Out of all of the mistakes I thought I could've made. It was letting that man live.

I had returned to the streets of Inuzuri, only to realise that people froze on the spot, terror striking their eyes. Few had run back into their shelters to hide.

From me.

_"Is that Chitora?"_

Why are they referring to me? I'm not Chitora! Why are they frightened of me?! What did I ever do to 'em?!

_"Her eyes are as scary as the rumours claimed them to be!"_

What's wrong with my eyes? They are midnight blue, not some dark scary glare. Who spoke about my eyes?!

_"That's her zanpakuto in her hand! It killed hundreds of souls that looked into her eyes."_

A zanpakuto? Like a shinigami? That's impossible, I hadn't even applied to become a shinigami! There's nothing wrong with having a sword to call my own!

_"Chitora!"_

No...

_"Chitora!"_

It's not my name...

_"Chitora!"_

"My name's Tahani Rosa!" I snapped, pulling out the blade to stab the person who had given me the disastrous nickname. Once I felt the blade plunge into the man's chest, a sense of satisfaction warmed my chest. Blood spayed on the cheeks of my face, and I suddenly felt that I enjoyed this hunt.

A dark sneer crossed over my face as I pulled the blade out of the man, letting his body drop cold. The blood dripped effortlessly from the blade, and something began to stir in the back of my mind, like a distant memory. You know what I said before? Take that back, I kind of like it.

I am the Blood Tiger.

"And I'll gladly kill ya..."

...

People were afraid of me, and I didn't mind it. They were always pathetic, either declaring that one day someone was going to teach me a lesson or I was going to end up headless. I didn't care for what other people had thought about me. It had been seventy years since I woke up in this world and witnessed the fear from the district I grew up in.

I could kill 'em all if I had to.

The sound of a hollow's defeat growl rumbled behind me. My blade, that was known as Aisutaiga slashed the hollow in half before it collapsed. Nothing interested me here; this world was boring enough and I needed something to preoccupy my time.

_I wish that something here would start happening soon..._ Hearing the mention voice from my zanpakuto (turned out that the soul was right) I rolled my eyes and returned the sword in its sheath.

"Ya stupid feline... Nothing happens in Inuzuri..." Once the zanpakuto fell silent, a large sense of reiatsu crumbled over me. My legs tensed in surprise, just realising that this new power – was the very thing that I needed.

_Are you sure?_

"Not the time." I responded sharply, spotting a black blur in the sky. It was a shinigami, with shaggy blue hair and grey eyes. He was definitely the next hunt that I needed to go through and it wasn't because I have the urge to kill someone strong, but because of the reiatsu. This reiatsu trapped me like a lullaby.

I followed him silently, to make sure that he didn't attack me unexpectedly but when the shinigami did stop. I notice that he wasn't alone.

A small brunette brat was hanging in the shinigami's arms. She was young, like a small child that hadn't even passed the human age of eight.

That small brat was the one emitting the reiatsu. Though the reiatsu was noticeable, it wasn't as powerful as mine but it was so strange and it reminded me of the moon. When her eyes opened, revealing a deep chestnut – something made me tense uneasily. The eyes widened in fright and puzzlement, and the girl in the man's arms let out a confused whimper.

"Where am I? What's going on?"

These were the questions that I often asked myself, but hearing it from someone for the first time made me take interest on the girl. She had short brown hair that was tied up with bangs over her forehead, large chestnut eyes, and wore a milky green robe.

"Our leader wishes for your death, Laria Alfero." The shinigami replied, dropping the girl onto the hardened earth. She let out a pained whimper, and I watched with wide eyes. Living in Rukongai for many years made me use to death, however... this girl... Whose name turned out to be Laria Alfero, looked like she never had a chance to live a life of her own. He raised his blade into the air, watching emotionlessly as the girl cringed away from the weapon.

I felt that it was like instinct, when I pushed my bare feet and planted firmly in front of the girl.

CLANK!

How did my zanpakuto get out? How did I manage to face this man so quickly and defend myself? Most importantly, why is this girl worth helping out?

"Don't ya dare touch her!"

Was this my voice? What happened to me? I was Chitora, the one who didn't care if a kid died or not. My body acted on its own, easily pushing through the shinigami before piercing him through the chest. His eyes widened in horror, just as a bloodlust grin appeared on my face. So far, this shinigami was weaker than I was - how pathetic.

"What... who are you?"

My face pulled an infamous smirk, holding the zanpakuto on one side as I placed my hand on the blade. The blade started to glow a bright blue, which made the man slightly widen his eyes in shock. "My name is Tahani Rosa! Hunt 'em down Aisutaiga," At the command, the blade had divided into two sharp daggers as I snickered in excitement.

"You have a zanpakuto?!" He stated with wide eyes, looking fearfully at the released blade. "What are you?"

I chuckled lightly, but instantly slashed through the man's chest. His blood sprayed on my face like a warm shower, and he collapsed lifelessly in front of us.

"I'm just a girl who has a zanpakuto..." I muttered in a low voice, turning around to spot the kid stare back me with fright. You've seen one look of fear, you've seen 'em all. "Where did ya come from kid?"

The girl trembled underneath the stare, looking back at the girl pleadingly. "Help me... I don't know, I'm lost!" She wailed, crawling towards me and hugging my leg. I let out a cry of disgust, trying to pry the girl off me.

"Get off ya brat!" I snapped, picking the kid's body with my leg. Gah! She was heavier than she looks! It was like she weighed a ton! What did she eat before coming here?

"Please help me... " The girl begged, making me pause at that moment. "Tahani-nee-sama..."

A scowl was brought on my face, instantly feeling annoyed that someone treated me as if I was one of the captains from the Gotei Thirteen. However, this brat finally heard me. My name... She was the first person that called by my real name. I had no idea how weird it felt to hear my name being called by another soul of Rukongai.

"Fine... Come with me, Laria."

"Laria?"

Hearing the girl, I turned slightly to see that she was confused at hearing on what I called her. Her eyes were filled with puzzlement and she tilted her head to add more to her confusion. What happened to her before she ended up like this? I honestly couldn't be sure, but I had naturally assumed that her memories were completely wiped. It didn't matter though, the girl would just some new memories in the future and not worry about her past, "Yeah, that shinigami mentioned it earlier. Laria Alfero."

"What's a shinigami?"

There's a lot of crap I have to explain to this kid...

...

By the next few years, Laria had started to grow up into a fine girl. Her hair was still short, and she wasn't as skillful as I was, but she did watch the district often. I had tried to train her with a sword, but it turned out that her hands were always too shaky. The only thing she improved on was the control of her reiryoku, which always gave her an excited grin. It would always glow into a large bright ball in her hands, putting my reiryoku control in the hall of shame.

Even though she was better at reiryoku control, when she grinned, I couldn't help but smirk. On this particular day, we were watching the district below us on a roof, spotting a shinigami. The only reason why we could spot him out was because of his crimson hair, sticking him out in the crowds. I chuckled lowly – he looked like some stupid pineapple.

"Why are we going to steal from that shinigami Tani-nee-sama?"

A nasty thick vein appeared on my forehead as I glared at the girl. "We're gonna steal from him 'cause he's got more money to buy crap, Ria-chan!" I retorted with a dark smirk, spotting Laria frown in the corner of my eyes. She detested that nickname as much as I couldn't stand Tani-nee-sama. "Now, do ya have a plan?"

Once the girl stopped pouting, she forced a dark grin on her face. "I know what to do."

-:-

"Jeez can you snore any louder?"

The familiar voice made Tahani jump from her futon and roll onto the cold floor. It gave her the chills, but the fourth seat sat up to glare at the redhead lieutenant who stood in front of the cell with his arms folded.

"What does it matter to ya Renji? Aren't ya proud that I'm locked up here instead of ya?" Maybe Byakuya got soft on Renji and let him out; it looked like it had been a few hours since she had been locked in the damn cell. She could've missed out all the action while she was napping.

"Well you're not going to be locked up anymore."

Tahani's expression turned blank and before she knew it, the bars slashed open by his zanpakuto. She widened her eyes comically, blinking with confusion when Renji walked up to her with a stern expression and unlocked the shackles. Once Tahani's wrists were free, she gave a strange look towards him.

"Renji... why?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Shut up, it's because we're gonna help Ichigo save Rukia together." He stated gravely, allowing Tahani to sink in all the information that Renji had just mentioned. Wait. Did she hear that right?

Help Ichigo.

Save Rukia.

Together.

"Wait!" Tahani suddenly screeched, glaring at the redhead in annoyance. He looked mildly surprised that Tahani had been vicious with her protest, "I never said that I will go help Rukia Kuchiki!"

Renji shoved an object in Tahani's arms before she could continue her rant. Once she felt the coolness of the figure, her eyes widened with a gleeful smirk. "You were right, I decided that I will help him save Rukia, because I know that I can't do it alone."

"When? How?" Tahani was still clearly amazed that she got her precious back.

"I went to your division after I broke out, Laria put it there knowing that one of us would get it. Now that you have your damn zanpakuto, can we get to it?"

He suddenly sweat dropped at the sight of Tahani hugging her weapon. She stopped once she felt eyes on her, and glared defensively at him, "I'm sorry, I actually like my zanpakuto."

_No you don't._

_Not now Aisutaiga_.

"Just be glad I actually gave yours back." Renji grumbled, just as he returned Zabimaru in the sheath, "Now are you coming or not?"

Tahani stayed silently for a short moment, before a look of realisation struck her face. "Oh now I get it... Yeah sure, I'm coming."

As Tahani and Renji left in search of the orange haired shinigami, Tahani kept to herself in deep thought. _Why is it important for me to fight? _She briefly glanced over to Renji, who was more focused on finding Ichigo than noticing her. _That's easy – because everyone has their talents and passions. Fighting with a blade just happens to my talent and passion. _

**A/n: If people had read the previous, they could tell that in the original Tahani had actually gone with Ikkaku and Yumichika but I've made Tahani go with Renji in order to rescue Rukia. In the previous version, I saw that Tahani had barely any interaction with Rukia's rescue and she ran around like a headless chicken. This time, I give her more of an important role instead of making her look like some useless background character. **

**_02/09/2013* Just realised it's one of my OC's birthdays today xD _**


	8. Chapter 7: Beginning of a Puzzle

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites**

**It is almost midnight and I can't sleep :D Well to be more precise, I was sleeping around noon... oh well, to write the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 7: Beginning of a Puzzle**

Hitsugaya scowled unnaturally when he read the file that Alfero was meant to deliver the night before. Usually she would've had her work completed on time, but now she was resting on his couch with a calm expression. Since this was her first time leaving paperwork he decided to drop it for now, it wasn't like she didn't have a good reason. It seemed that she was focusing on her new task so much that it was beginning to take a toll on her. When he had returned after giving Hinamori his warning, and a tip about staying with Alfero, he had found her curled up on the couch. He said nothing to wake the third seat and resumed to his work.

But when she slipped the information to him, Hitsugaya was astounded with the results. It turns out that there was something to be suspicious about Ichimaru.

He had let the ryoka go for a reason, though Alfero didn't get much, she managed to at least snag information that only few would know about. Back at the Captain's meeting, Ichimaru had stated that he had no excuse and he had no true reason into why he let them go.

But why would Ichimaru lie in the first place? It was like Ichimaru wanted a distraction so that Soul Society can start panicking.

"This is getting bothersome." He muttered in a low voice, filling out the rest of Matsumoto's paperwork. She had to go to another lieutenant's meeting, so she was busy keeping up with her own work, surprisingly.

"Captain..." Hitsugaya raised his head to look over to the couch, where the third seat was rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. "How long did I sleep for?" Alfero wondered, looking over to him sleepily.

"A few hours, nothing more." He replied blankly, holding back an exhausted yawn when he stood up. "Can you make me some tea?"

"Of course, Captain." The girl let out a childish yawn through her mouth – and it was enough for Hitsugaya to release a small yawn. Damn yawns for being so contagious. She stood up and trudged to the door, but as her hand reached for the door, Hitsugaya found himself mentally cursing.

"Alfero."

Her name made her turn back for a moment, eyes were half-opened as she glanced back at him as if she was still exhausted.

"Captain?" She spoke in a soft voice, furrowing her tired brows towards him.

"It wasn't your fault that Rosa got locked up in the cell. You need to stop blaming yourself for someone else's actions." He commented, finishing the last bit of paperwork before he placed it on the pile. The look that she had given him was almost priceless, with her chestnut eyes wide with astonishment and her eyebrows raised. "You need to focus on your mission."

Instantly Alfero's face flashed into a different emotion before faking a smile, making Hitsugaya scowl at the girl's expression. Why was she disappointed? Was she expecting more than a few words of advice?

"I'm sorry captain – I just can't help but feel like I've betrayed her." Alfero muttered, still holding that smile. Why did it irritate him so much over a fake smile?! She was just trying to lighten the mood for him! "I'll go make that tea now..." The third seat left the room, leaving Hitsugaya in his own thoughts.

Maybe he should give her some work to do so she would take her mind of Rosa's case. As long as the Fourth Seat was in that cell, it was impossible for the brute to be harmed. Alfero should at least consider of the positive side of this.

Why did he care so much for what Alfero thought? She was not a child, she managed to become his third seat in three and a half decades for Spirit King's sake. He knew what she went through to promote herself wasn't easy – she had worked on her paperwork during the day and trained during the night only to end up dead exhausted in the morning to repeat the process. There was even a time when he had caught her training alone. One night after a busy day, Hitsugaya noticed a flash of light in the training grounds and found Alfero trying to control her zanpakuto. When he saw her train, it was like she was more lively during the night than she was in the daytime and for a brief moment, he felt nostalgic from his days in Rukongai.

From the files of the Shinigami Academy, the instructors had filled out that Alfero did not release her zanpakuto often because it was difficult to control. This was his first and last time he saw Alfero release Tsuki okami.

Once again, why did he only think of Alfero?

His expression straightened when he noticed a Hell butterfly enter the room. As the insect landed on his finger, the message repeated itself to him, which made Hitsugaya narrow his eyes.

"Captain, I made your tea-"

"Sorry Alfero, but we need to go. There's an emergency at the first division." Hitsugaya ordered, grabbing Hyorinmaru and began pacing down the hallways. Alfero had given a confused look, before she placed the tea on the nearest table and lagged behind him, fumbling with her zanpakuto.

"Captain... What's going on?" The girl wondered, taking larger steps to catch up with him. Her brow had drawn into a line of confusion as they exited the building.

"There's a message from Matsumoto – she called me over, and I'm bringing you along." He responded, scowling when he let the answer slip out of his mouth. Why did he have to mention that he wanted to bring Alfero along because he trusted her? Before Hitsugaya prepared to use shunpo, he gave a look towards Alfero who was willing to follow him. "Let's go!"

They both shunpoed from their division, only appearing in sight again after every few metres. Hitsugaya recalled that Alfero was not the best with shunpo, but when she had to, she would keep up for a short amount of time. He gave a glare towards Laria who was already beginning to get exhausted from using shunpo, but was glad when they finally stopped at the first division.

He heard Alfero whimper at the horrifying sight, and Hitsugaya didn't comment on it because he saw it too. It was clear in his turquoise eyes, and the picture printed permanently in his memory.

It was the sight of Sosuke Aizen's body daggling from above, with his face lifeless, his body completely sprayed by his own blood. Once he heard an enraged scream, his eyes briefly narrowed at the sight of Kira and Hinamori in a dispute, releasing their zanpakuto for battle. Standing behind Kira was the ever so calm Ichimaru, smiling as if it was his lucky day.

He had to stop them, before Ichimaru intervened.

-:-

_It can't be true..._

Laria's fist clenched up tightly at the sight of Aizen's lifeless corpse hanging above them. Tears of anger and denial welled up in his eyes but they did not leave her eyes, completely oblivious to the battle from the lieutenants. Why Aizen? What did he ever do to cause someone to murder him? Was it from the ryoka that managed to defeat Renji? Or was it from one of their own?

Before she could consider more questions, a loud clash of swords interrupted Laria's train of thought and she lowered her eyes down to spot the new scene. Captain Hitsugaya had bravely put himself in between the two fighters, Hyorinmaru blocking Izuru's blade and his foot firmly planted on Momo's blade. Laria looked from beside her and noticed no one was there, assuming that Toshiro used shunpo so fast that not even she saw through it.

"None of you move a muscle." He ordered sternly, giving a disappointed glare towards Momo in particular. Silence dawned on the area, with the lieutenants watching from the sidelines with either looks of horror on their faces, or worry for the Fifth Division Lieutenant.

"Hitsugaya-kun..." Momo whimpered with her eyes still puffy from the tears. The captain silently stared for another moment before he stood up and recollected his thoughts.

"Arrest them both." He commanded after withdrawing his zanpakuto. Laria widened her eyes in confusion at the orders – why would Captain Hitsugaya order lock up for Momo? Before either could protest, their fellow lieutenants held both lieutenants back.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Momo argued defensively, however not fighting back when Rangiku and Iba seized her. Izuru had remained quiet and willing when Shuhei Hisagi grabbed the blonde lieutenant impassively under the captain's orders.

_Captain..._ Laria thought worriedly, drawing her eyebrows together.

"Hinamori, do you really think this the time to be fighting each other with swords?!" He snapped back at her, unaware that Laria had flinched from his harsh tone. "Our first priority should be taking Aizen down from there." Something in Laria's chest clenched at the thought of the Captain of the Fifth Division being truly dead. "I'll send in the report to the Head Captain, and take these two to the detention cell."

She hated how her captain spoke of Aizen as if there wasn't any hope for him – it could have been a fake body, or... anything! The third seat silently begged that it was all just a misunderstanding; it was that Aizen was still smiling down at his subordinates.

Both lieutenants were dragged away without protest, Momo had tearfully gazed upon Aizen's corpse before glaring furiously towards Gin Ichimaru's way as she left their sight. Once Laria felt the air was free from its main tension, she saw that she was the only one that stood with Toshiro and Gin.

"I apologise Captain-san." Gin declared, looking over towards Toshiro with the sly grin intact. "Ya shouldn't waste ya time on one o'mine." Laria clenched her jaw fiercely, tightening the muscles in her arm.

_This would not have happened if you didn't act so suspicious._ She thought darkly, narrowing her eyes when she heard her captain speaking in a husky voice.

"Ichimaru, you were about to kill Hinamori." It hadn't been a question, Laria instantly realised that. Her eyes widened briefly, and felt something burning up in her chest – it was complete rage. Now that Laria considered it, the more it made sense. If Toshiro did not jump into the fight, then Hinamori's body would've been dangling from Gin's blade just like Aizen.

"Well now, whatever are you talking 'bout?" Gin responded mockingly, keeping the grin still intact. Instantly, Laria appeared in front of the Third Division captain, her eyes darkened protectively and a scowl bored into her face.

"Don't act so innocent Captain Ichimaru. We know that something is up and you're a part of it," Laria stated coldly just as her eyes narrowed. "So if I were you, I wouldn't be so naive."Gin's eyebrows slightly rose in interest, but Laria remained unfazed through his brief shock.

"Who knew... that the third seat of the tenth division could be as scary as her captain?" He replied after showing another grin. "It isn't very nice of you, threatening me like that third seat-chan."

_I'll show you plain nasty!_ She warned silently, her hand twitching ever so slightly towards the hilt of Tsuki okami-

"Alfero."

The sound of her name halted her movements, and Laria turned back to face her captain with a softer expression. "Captain..."

"Back down, Alfero." Toshiro ordered, giving a look towards Laria. She looked into his eyes and immediately understood his thoughts. _'We don't have enough evidence so until then, we cannot lay a finger on Ichimaru.'_ Therefore, the captain did care for her wellbeing after all. Laria moved slowly behind her captain, lowering her head without another word.

"Ya know, us adults don't often approve children being rude to their elders. Ya lucky that you have your captain keeping an eye on ya otherwise ya might end up dead." Gin continued, grinning wider when Laria trembled in fury. Why did Captain Ichimaru have to stronger than her? If only he hadn't been a superior she would've gladly put him in his place.

Before Laria could even raise her head to glare at the third division captain, Toshiro raised his hand to halt her movements again. A dark scowl appeared on her face, but she agreed nonetheless. "I'll just let you know, Ichimaru that if you go about threatening my third seat – or even spilling one drop of blood from Hinamori," The glare matched Toshiro's enraged voice as he looked up to Gin. "I promise that I'll kill you myself."

Laria shivered lightly from Toshiro's reiatsu but managed to stand on her feet. She knew that her captain was being dead serious – and he definitely wouldn't go back on his word. But deep down, Laria hoped that Toshiro wouldn't get into a fight with Gin. Toshiro may be the prodigy of Soul Society, Gin was a prodigy himself and he has been a captain far longer than Toshiro has.

"Oh boy, you two are scary." Gin sneered lightly, only maddening Laria that he could smile so easily and be calm in the situation. "You'll have to watch them real close so no bad guys can get to them," He mocked lightly. Laria's eyes narrowed deeply at the thought of watching Hinamori constantly like she was ordered to.

The third division captain will not lay a finger on Momo for as long Laria is able to pull out Tsuki okami. Laria turned at the sound of a group running towards them – they probably sensed the fight from Momo and Izuru so they decided to confront the situation.

_"What has happened, Captain Ichimaru? Captain Hitsugaya?"_ They stopped in front of them, before they looked up at Aizen – the whole reason why this mess had began. "Captain Aizen! What happened?!"

"I want you to bring Aizen down and take his body to Unohana." Toshiro commanded, swiftly turning away. Gin had kept the grin on his face and disappeared out of the duo's sight, ignoring the group's attempts to take Aizen down. "Alfero."

"Captain?" Laria blinked innocently, looking over to Toshiro who scowled at the direction of the first division.

"I'm going to inform the Head Captain about the situation, I want you and Matsumoto to go to Aizen's office to find any clues to his murder. I will join your search after I let the Head Captain know."

Laria slightly smiled and bowed her head in response, "Of course captain, I will do that immediately go to that."

-:-

"So why are we here?" Hozumi wondered blankly, yawning under his breath next to Laria. Just as he was having a peaceful nap he was suddenly interrupted by the third seat who immediately ordered Hozumi to wake up. He was unhappy about waking up, but shocked when Laria had immediately told Hozumi the astonishing news.

Captain Aizen was murdered during the night.

Now Hozumi wasn't very close with any captains, he rather preferred to avoid them because the looks he received from them but he normally continued about his day as if there wasn't a problem in the world. First Tahani gets imprisoned for letting the ryoka go, then Aizen gets killed, leaving Laria to get serious.

What's next?

"I told you Aoki-san, we need to search his division so that we can find evidence." The third seat responded with a glare. Rangiku frowned in annoyance but started to order their group to look through certain rooms. Hozumi and Laria went through Aizen's office, unlike Laria Hozumi wasn't really going through the stuff like he was ordered to, more focused on just looking at Aizen's possessions.

"Aoki-san..." Laria muttered in a low voice, Hozumi took a nice of a fancy cup and turned to Laria with a grin.

"Laria-chan, would it be okay if we could take his stuff now that no one is here?" If it had been anyone else, they would've laughed lightly along but the look he got from Laria was almost scarier than the gates of hell.

"Aoki-san, you are not here to take Captain Aizen's property. We're here for evidence." Laria told him darkly, her hands had desperately clutched on an envelope. "I called you here because I found a letter for Hinamori-san." When Laria stepped closer to Hozumi, he noticed the letter was indeed addressed to the lieutenant of the fifth division. She gave the letter for Hozumi to hold before she dug through Aizen's desk and Hozumi stared at the letter as if it was a key to a secret hidden treasure.

"We should read it." The unseated officer grinned, about to open the letter when it was snatched out of his hands. "But Laria-chan!" He protested with a pout, looking up to see Laria holding the letter firmly with a hard look in her eyes. "It could help our case."

"We give this to Captain Hitsugaya, and no one else." Laria responded darkly, scowling when Hozumi slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Okay... If you say so..." He complained, scurrying through Aizen's goods again. Man was this captain was a nerd! He had piles of research books through his room, most of them were about the previous twelfth division captain – Kisuke Urahara's work. _How weird... Captain Urahara was banished to the Living World for some illegal experiments. I just became a part of the tenth division around that time._ Now that Hozumi thought about it – nearly most of the lieutenants were children back then.

He was so old!

"Alfero, Aoki."

Captain Hitsugaya's cold voice made Hozumi comically screech and jump back. Laria and Toshiro both scowled at his scream, annoyed by the grown man's behaviour.

"Anything?"

Laria straightened her expression and showed the captain the letter that she found. "I found this, on top of Captain Aizen's paperwork. This letter is for Hinamori-san." Hozumi noticed the behaviour of the duo when Laria passed the letter to her captain, a wicked grin expanded on his face. Oh, he never knew that!

"Good work Alfero, I will pass this letter on to Matsumoto." Toshiro took the letter in his hand and placed it in his haori, his eyes hardened towards Hozumi. "Aoki, you better be doing your job instead of slacking off."

The unseated officer straightened his back and looked directly towards his captain, "Slack off? Me? I assure you Captain; I will do no such thing when we are solving a murder!" How does his captain know that Hozumi wasn't paying attention to the situation? Damn you white haired midget! Toshiro's glare hardened instantly just as Laria's scowl formed on her face, "I said that out loud... didn't I?" They both nodded darkly and Hozumi gulped with an awkward grin, "It was... an accident?"

-:-

As a shinigami, Laria trusted in her head than her gut. However, she couldn't help but feel a disturbed sensation from her gut when she had given the letter to her captain. It was like that letter had been doomed to ruin them – it may or may not reveal the murderer of Aizen. Ever since she left that office, a strange voice has been continuously screaming out in her head... and Laria knew very well that it wasn't Tsuki okami.

Whenever Laria tried to recall the voice, on where she had heard it from... a searing headache would pound her head and she would have no choice but to ignore the voice.

_But still..._ Laria thought, narrowing her eyes seriously. The voice had sounded like her own, but it was a higher pitched voice, as if she had been a child and she has never remembered saying anything about someone hurting her. Even when Tahani had saved her many years ago from the mysterious shinigami, the raven haired woman has not laid a hand on her. The only time she would be harmed with Tahani was whenever they were training back at the Shinigami Academy.

"Alfero."

The captain's voice made Laria jolt out of her position and stare back at him. They were walking back from the fifth division with a pile of paperwork in Laria's arms and they encountered the door to the office. Hozumi had disappeared to deliver some of the paperwork to the eleventh division in punishment for insulting Captain Hitsugaya. He was depressed about doing more work, but he went along orders (actually, he was pressured into doing the work by the glares of his superiors).

Laria turned back to face Toshiro uncomfortably and smiled softly, "I'm sorry captain – I was just daydreaming." Her smile faltered slightly when Toshiro's look held doubt in his turquoise eyes. Were they always so unique to look at? Under the glare, Laria saw two distinctive eyes that were just looking for something to linger on forever and held many secrets.

Then again, Toshiro Hitsugaya closed everyone off in his life.

He moved his gaze away from her and observed the door in front of them, "We're here. You can take your leave now." Instantly the third seat furrowed her brow and let her eyes gaze back in protest.

"But Captain Hitsugaya! There's a lot of paperwork back in the office as well, and who knows what Matsumoto-san is doing instead of the paperwork." Laria stated, with a determined glare, which left the captain silent. "Please Captain... I want to help you – I'm a third seat for a reason." Her eyebrows drew together in a straight line, giving her captain the look that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

You could say a bit of Tahani was rubbed on her.

Toshiro scowled for a moment of consideration, before he let his frown disappear. "Fine, come in my office and get started on that work."

She smiled softly, nodding with contempt over her features. "Right." The captain opened the door for her so that she could walk in the paperwork, but they found Matsumoto curled up on the couch of the office. At first, Laria assumed that Rangiku was drunk – but there weren't any sake cups lying around and no stench of the disgusting beverage.

Laria placed the paperwork on the desk, pulled up a chair to get started on the work immediately, reading the files individually with narrowed eyes. Most had been division transfers, but Laria had a feeling that not many people would want to be in a division where there wasn't any captain or lieutenant around. The third seat found the silence to be welcoming, ignoring the soft snores from her lieutenant and the sounds of breathing between the duo.

Laria's admiration for the captain was still high. Ever since he was promoted to a captain less than twenty years ago, Laria obeyed just about every command he makes without question. It only seems that recently, she's been losing her focus on working for her captain – Laria just felt that she should make it up to him for being slack the past few days.

The hours passed and Laria's eyes were threatening to close shut when she noticed Rangiku shoot up from her spot. Laria blinked sleepily and took another drink from her cup, which gave her a faint boost in energy. She would need that to last another ten minutes.

"Captain... Laria-chan... What are you two doing in my room?"

Toshiro sighed in annoyance, but kept the gaze on Rangiku. "You idiot, the captain's office isn't your room." He grumbled in annoyance, neatly straightening out the few pages he had remaining. Laria's work was nearly complete; however, she had a few more pages than her captain did. It took her another moment for Laria to realise that he took her pile off her and placed it with his work. "Now that you're awake, hurry up and take over – we're tired already."

If Laria hadn't been so bored and exhausted of paperwork, she would've felt rather flattered that Toshiro mentioned her with him. She bet that if she went to bed now, Laria would suddenly be wide-awake due to her weird nightly activeness. Sometimes Laria disliked the fact that she didn't get as much sleep as anyone.

"Now that's because you agreed to do the fifth division's work." Rangiku scolded playfully, walking up to the desk however Laria knew why the captain would do such a thing. Toshiro cared for Momo, and wanted to look out for her, as always.

"Zip it," Toshiro muttered with his signature scowl, "Just do the rest." He handed the work to his lieutenant and she furrowed her brow in deep consideration.

"This is it?" Rangiku wondered astonishingly, holding up the files to show the duo, "There was so much."

"I said zip it." The captain grumbled, taking a drink from his own cup. Laria let out a small yawn, before rubbing her eyes. She was glad that she didn't have this much work compared to the captain... even though she does pitch in Rangiku's work.

"I must've been asleep for a while..." Rangiku stated, her voice was lowered in a disappointed tone. This made Laria perk her head in confusion, feeling the heavy attitude from her fellow lieutenant. "If you and Laria-chan are able to complete this much..."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and gazed away, "Don't worry about it. It was hard for you to see two close friends of yours to fight like that." Laria looked back and forth towards her superiors, she was well aware of Rangiku's relationship to Captain Ichimaru but... how close where they? Earlier when Laria had mentioned the third division captain, she noticed Rangiku's change in attitude. It only confused Laria; she didn't get the duo at all.

"Captain," Rangiku spoke up in a low voice. Toshiro's eyes narrowed as they glanced up at her, "Do you really think Gin... Captain Ichimaru did it?"

The captain gave Rangiku a hard look, and Laria went back to her drink to keep in focus. If Laria was being honest with herself, she knows that Gin was up to something – it may not be the murder but she definitely knows it is big – bigger than the murder and the case of the ryoka.

Before Toshiro could say anything – a firm knock interrupted the tense atmosphere and Toshiro firmly pulled his stare away.

_"Begging your pardon, but are Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto present? It is seventh seat Takezoe Kokichiro reporting." _

"What is it?" Toshiro inquired sternly, "Open the door."

The command was done by the seventh seat, he was kneeling down to face his superiors with a grave expression, "We have numerous reports from various cell guards indicating that Lieutenants Abarai, Hinamori, Kira and Fourth Seat Rosa have disappeared from their respective cells."

"Tahani's left?!" Laria interrupted with wide eyes. A part of her _was_ surprised; the fourth seat had mentioned that she wouldn't leave the cell without her zanpakuto so the answer was clear. Someone helped her out of her cell – most likely Renji, considering that he would know that Laria placed Aisutaiga in Tahani's room. She was worried about what would happen, if Tahani was out – she would want to hunt that ryoka down.

"Alfero, calm down." Toshiro commented, making the third seat whirl her head to face him. "Remember your task – we need to go to their cells." The look that Laria gave him was almost frightened, but she did remember her responsibilities and she nodded in agreement.

-:-

"_You need to start giving more respect for your superiors..." _Hozumi mocked in a fake Toshiro tone, his pout was intact. _"You clearly need to learn how the system works..."_ He spat in annoyance. Usually, the happy unseated officer wasn't like this – but he was just in one of those moods. "Apparently, I do know how the system works – and if I follow along with them... it will only make me of what my parents wanted me as. I could be a captain if I wanted to."

As shown, Hozumi was always touchy about his parents.

A sigh escaped Hozumi's lips and he felt suddenly defeated. It wasn't the captain's fault... or Laria's or anyone else's that he came across earlier. The problem was that he felt that everyone was always expecting something out of him. He couldn't help it... if Hozumi was a lazy idiot than everyone should leave him as a lazy idiot.

Oh well, he should just ignore everyone else and be who he was born to be. It would make things easier. Hozumi pulled a cheerful smile on his face at the consideration and skipped through the maze, unaware that a figure was charging straight towards him.

BAM!

The male screeched out in mock horror as he flew off his feet and landed on the ground with raining paperwork. Oh, there goes his last chance of peace and quiet from his captain.

"What the heck is the big idea?!" A new voice made Hozumi look over to the frail man from the eleventh division holding a walnut haired girl. "Are you blind or something you clueless moron?"

"Now that isn't very nice moustache-kun." Hozumi replied with a straight line forming over his mouth, only angering the man. "Besides – what's with the girl you have there? I won't let you take advantage of such a lovely lady!" He then paused, looking over to the unconscious girl who barely looked past her teen years. "Wait a minute! I would've recognised a lady like that any day! She is the ryoka-!"

The man suddenly dropped the girl on the ground and tackled Hozumi into the ground to cover his mouth. "Don't say it out loud you lunatic! Do you want others to hear ya?!"

Hozumi cringed at the man's hand cover his mouth. It was disgusting to have another male covering your mouth, especially for someone who was from the eleventh division. However, it could be worse.

It could be the second division lieutenant's hand.

A shudder came through Hozumi at the thought of Omaeda. Unlike most people, Hozumi actually knew Omaeda from the family. They never really got along as kids, and now that his clan disowned him, Omaeda would always use a chance to rub it in Hozumi's face that he has a family.

"What's going on?"

Wait, Hozumi lost track again. Damn, he really needed to focus more on the situation.

Both males froze; the unconscious girl was now forgotten as they turned towards the one and only – Yachiru Kusajishi.

-:-

The cell that previously contained Momo turned out to be more disastrous than Laria had thought. There was a large hole to the outside, and the cell bars had also been wiped out in shape of a circle.

_Wow, I didn't think Hinamori-san would have actually escaped; it was just for her to cool down about Aizen's death. _Laria thought, looking at the damage that the lieutenant had caused.

"My deepest apologies!" The cell guard bowed, not meeting either one of them in the eyes. "When I heard Lieutenant Hinamori call me and turned around, my vision went blank and I awoke to find things as you see now. I have absolutely no excuse!"

"That's Hakufuku, alright." Toshiro muttered, Laria raised her head to look over to the damage made. If Hinamori was using kido on breaking out... this was going to be a lot harder to deal with than Laria expected.

"Hakufuku?" the guard raised his head, confused about the name.

"Hinamori is a master of kido. If we seriously intended to shut her in, we should have sealed her Reiatsu. But the reason we didn't..." Toshiro trailed off, looking at the giant hole that Momo had caused. "Is because no one thought Hinamori would go this far."

"It's not like she was going to be prisoned... so why?" Rangiku pondered, folding her arms to glance at the damage with Laria.

Something weighed down in her chest and Laria found her thoughts drifting to the letter that she had found in Aizen's office. _It had to be that letter..._ Her hand clenched uneasily, looking over to her captain with a concerned frown.

"There's only one reason..." Toshiro stated aloud, which only interrupted Laria's distant thoughts. Her eyes narrowed sharply, and once again – the heavy feeling was crawling in her gut. He straightened up professionally and looked over to his lieutenant, "Matsumoto."

"Yes, sir?" Rangiku straightened her posture at the mention of her name.

"Go back without me, Alfero come with me." Toshiro's voice turned cold. He quickly turned to Laria and gave her a serious look in which she instinctively flinched at, "We're going to save Hinamori." He decided, clutching the hilt of his zanpakuto.

Without another word, Laria found herself and the captain running together in search of Momo without Rangiku. She was slower than her captain was, and the proof of that was the fact her breath was already starting to go in ragged pants.

_Hinamori-san..._ Laria thought seriously, looking back at her admired captain. _You have no idea of how much Captain Hitsugaya cares about you, why don't you just stay with him?_ She clenched her jaw together and glared at the path in front of her, suddenly angry that Momo was determined for revenge.

They arrived to the cell that previously held in Izuru, and the cell guard was already there to greet the duo with a small bow.

"Show me the cell that held in Kira." Hitsugaya ordered with a hard stare. Laria narrowed her eyes when the guard did not reply but led them towards the empty cell.

"This is it," The guard finally declared, moving away from the two so that they could observe it. Laria's eyes slightly peeled to the broken chair in the cell, it probably had nothing to do with the break out but it sort of frightened Laria at the thoughts of it being destroyed. Other than the chair, the rest of the cell remained untouched.

"How could Kira-san break out of this cell so easily?" Laria wondered, raising an eyebrow towards the cell. She spotted her captain place a hand on the lock of the door, his eyes widening instantly when he recognised the reiatsu.

"This is..." He whispered, before he twirled on the spot and hardened his glare. "Alfero – we're heading out." Toshiro ordered, rushing out of the cells with Laria following. Her brow furrowed together in mere confusion, trying to take larger steps to catch up.

What did he mean by 'this is'? How did Kira end up escaping without a broken bar?

"Captain!" Laria nearly tripped over her feet, but caught up when the captain sent her a glare. "What's going on Captain Hitsugaya?"

"It had been unlocked from the outside," He retorted, looking around the area. Toshiro halted on his feet, keeping his eyes hard on the scene that they stood in. The third seat paused as well, her eyebrow rose in confusion. "They should be here."

Before Laria could ask anything, her eyes widened at the sudden arrivals. "Captain Ichimaru! Kira-san!" She noticed the shock from the lieutenant, but Gin had remained calm as he stared back at the tenth division captain.

What were Gin's intentions? Why would he let Izuru out and not inform Captain Hitsugaya? There were so many questions, and they just led to more questions.

"I knew I'd find the two of you together." Toshiro muttered in a low voice, narrowing his eyes towards the duo.

"Captain Hitsugaya, Alfero-chan..." Izuru realised, widening his eyes at the sight of the duo. Laria felt something stir in the pit of her stomach, she was going to have to stop Izuru – even if he was a lieutenant. There was a reason Izuru had been locked up in the first place.

"It's just like I assumed." Toshiro continued, "Only Kira's cell had been unlocked from the outside. If you wanted to let him go secretly, don't you think that was a bit careless, Ichimaru?"

Gin remained perfectly calm with the infamous grin stuck on his face. It made Laria clench her teeth and direct an annoyed glare towards him. She hated that grin! If anything, it was more annoying than Tahani's smirk.

"Well, well, aren't you putting a strange spin on things?" Gin wondered slyly, "I did it that way on purpose so you'd know."

Laria remained unfazed at the sudden revelation. She wasn't surprised that the captain wasn't stupid enough to unlock someone so carelessly but the only thing that bothered her was why he did it. This whole situation with the ryoka, the murder... and now something that Gin had up his sleeve; what if this was Gin's whole plan? To rile everyone up so he could do something bigger than this?

"I'm glad that we got here before Hinamori," Toshiro stated as he coated his body with his reiatsu. His eyes hardened towards Gin, "Before she gets here, I'm going to kill you." Just before he prepared to take out his zanpakuto, a figure jumped in front of Toshiro and Laria.

"Hinamori-san!" Laria realised, her eyes widening in shock.

Toshiro calmed down at the sight of the lieutenant, her eyes overshadowed by the hair framing over her face. "Hinamori, what are you doing here?"

"Finally, I found you." The lieutenant muttered in a dark voice, "So this is where you've hidden." Laria's eyes briefed over to Gin, who suddenly sneered at the sight of the duo. What the heck was happening? Momo just found Gin... and he was smiling?

"Hinamori, stay back – you're no match for him! Just leave it to me!" Toshiro warned, but his words weren't registering to Momo. She raised her blade out of the sheath, then directly pointed it to the closest person she was to. "Why?" Laria looked back to witness where the blade was pointed.

Next to her captain's throat.

"Hinamori-san, what are you doing?!" The third seat cried out defensively, furrowing her brow together into a scowl. Was Hinamori really doing this? Or was this done by a really good imposter?

"Captain Aizen's murderer was you Toshiro Hitsugaya!" Momo shouted with anger flashing her eyes, Laria felt something pierce her chest as soon as she heard the words. Aizen's murderer was her captain? No, it was impossible! Toshiro would never have done such a thing! He was innocent! "Why did you kill him?" The lieutenant whimpered, fresh tears welled up in her eyes. "I know everything now, from the letter that the captain entrusted with me." She touched the paper that was in her shihakusho and Laria's eyes widened at the sight.

It was that letter! She knew there was a reason to have a bad feeling about the letter! For once in Laria's life, she felt that it would've been better if Hozumi had read to letter like he intended on doing. Laria scolded herself for scolding him about it.

"... And the name of the despicable individual plotting is, Toshiro Hitsugaya." The lieutenant continued with a hoarse voice.

But how? If Toshiro and Aizen had fought, Laria would've sensed it in her sleep. She is so use to sensing out her captain's reiatsu that it practically smothers her whenever he was fighting. He was in the office, doing the paperwork like he always did. It just made no sense, almost as if the letter had been forged.

"... If I should die, Hinamori, could you find it in your heart to carry out my last will to defeat him? That is my final wish. Not as the Captain of the fifth division, but as an ordinary man, I beg of you." Momo's tears began to finally drip from her face and Laria felt like she was punched in the stomach. Would she really go against her childhood friend because her captain told her to? If Laria had been in her position, she wouldn't dare to raise a blade against Tahani.

"Hinamori..." Toshiro whispered, his face had softened and his tone had weakened. Momo tightened the grip of her zanpakuto and screamed out in fury, raising her blade in the air to attack Toshiro. Laria acted on pure instinct, grabbing Tsuki okami and jumping in front of her captain just before he got hit. Momo's and Laria's blades collided, making a loud metallic sound through the night.

"Alfero!" Toshiro panicked, his eyes hardening once again. Laria's eyes narrowed deeply as she pushed herself on the blade, trying to not lose her concentration. To be honest she wasn't sure of how good Momo was with the sword, but she knew Momo was definitely better than her.

"Laria-chan move out of my way!" Momo screamed, fury building in her eyes once again.

"Hinamori-san, you know I can't do that... and I won't." Laria replied coldly.

"Fool! Think carefully!" Toshiro yelled at Momo, which shortly distracted her. "If he dies, he wants you to fight in his place? Do you really think Aizen would say that?" Laria still held her block to Momo, knowing that Momo could easily use kido on her. "The Aizen I knew... was neither an idiot who'd go alone to a fight he had no chance to win, nor a coward who'd make his subordinates clean up his mess!"

Momo pulled away with more tears flooding her eyes, "That's what the letter says! It's Captain Aizen's handwriting! I don't want to believe it but that's what Captain Aizen said!" The lieutenant cried, pushing back Laria with enough force to knock her off her feet. She then leaped over the third seat to strike towards Toshiro again.

"Captain!" Laria called out, jumping to her feet to use shunpo and appeared in front of her captain to block Momo's attack again. Momo's attacks continued to thrash Laria, pushing her to the limit and whenever she wasn't block she was evading the attacks. Unlike most movements, Momo's were quick and sloppy considering her rage so Laria found it easier to dodge.

An unexpected attack made Laria widen her eyes to raise her blade to block a forceful attack. It had been stronger than the previous attacks, forcing the third seat to slide across the ground. It wasn't a big distance, but it certainly did the damage. Laria reached up to touch her right cheek, which was now wet and sticky from her blood.

"Alfero!"

Once Laria turned towards her captain with a reassuring smile, she swore she noticed his eyes widen with rage. "I'm alright captain, just a scratch." She ignored the light sting tingling on her face with a determined glare.

"I...I... don't know what to do anymore... Shiro-chan," Momo sobbed hoarsely, her voice was low possibly from her sobbing and screaming. Laria wiped the blood from her cheek and narrowed her eyes on the blade, praying that Momo will calm down. She wasn't going to let the captain get harmed as long as she could stand on her two feet.

"Hinamori-" Toshiro began, but he was cut off by another shriek of fury. Momo poured the next attack with her reiatsu, and Laria knew that she wasn't going to be able to stop her without seriously harming her. The duo from the tenth division jumped from the attack, Laria landed back on her feet with the captain still in the air. She saw where Toshiro was looking and that's when she realised his intentions.

Laria's eyes widened when she saw Toshiro glaring down in a high hell fury. The captain dove towards Gin in a wild rage but Momo jumped in front of him to strike. Laria cursed under her breath and attempted to run after Momo but she was too far to stop the lieutenant from attack.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Panic flooded through Laria just as Toshiro lashed out at Momo, simply knocking her out. Momo fell back towards the ground, and Laria used the shunpo so that she could catch the unconscious lieutenant before she could crash into the ground. Momo's weight had tolled on her, and Laria gently placed her on the ground before she dropped her.

Why would Gin turn two friends against each other? There was a difference between evil and plain wrong. A stunt that the third division captain made, it fell under the category of just being wrong on so many levels.

"Hinamori!" Toshiro looked down to see his third seat and childhood friend on the ground, Laria gave him a reassured look in her eyes.

"Captain, she's alright! Just deal with Captain Ichimaru!" Laria reminded, noticing that he had relaxed slightly. He landed closer to Gin and Izuru, with a dark aura hovering over him. She sensed the anger in his reiatsu and no doubt about it, the captain was furious.

"My, my, that's awfully mean of ya, little captain." Gin interrupted. "You ain't got to hit so hard on a girl that she forgets herself." Laria glared at Gin, he still had the annoying grin, "And ya little third seat should watch what she says, ya don't know if it would be the last thing she says."

Laria's eyes slightly widened at the sight of Gin, realising that he had just threatened her. Being threatened by someone lower than her was normal, however this time she was threatened by a captain. A captain like Gin Ichimaru, nonetheless. She knows that he definitely won't go back on his word of threats; it was how the third division captain works.

"Ichimaru..." Toshiro whispered in a quiet but deadly tone. "What is your goal? I'll never forget... what you said after that..." He fell quiet, with his reiatsu slightly stirring around his body. The third seat didn't expect that his reiatsu would get so cold and frightening after watching the conversation between the captains. "Aizen wasn't enough for you? You drove Hinamori so crazy that she clutches onto her weapon until the blood oozes out... and then you threatened my third seat, after she was following _my_ orders."

"Well now, what are you chatting 'bout?" Gin wondered with a mocking innocence in his voice. Laria's lips pulled back into an annoyed snarl at the sight. Why must he do this? He thinks he's so smart, but her captain had him already figured out. There's no point in hiding the secret.

Toshiro's reiatsu glowed threateningly around his body, his eyes with dark with rage as he glared back at the taller captain. "I thought I told you Ichimaru... if you made Hinamori spill blood or threaten my third seat, I'd kill you." He turned from Laria, facing Gin with a killing intent.

"That ain't good." Gin reminded with a sneer, reaching out for his zanpakuto, raising his reiatsu in determination. "If you pull your sword on me in a place like this, I'll just have to stop ya, won't I?"

For the first time, Izuru had stared at the conflicting captains with his visible eye wide with shock, "C-Captain Ichimaru..." Was Izuru innocent? Laria didn't know, but she was going to have to make sure that he didn't intervene the fight.

"Stay back, Izuru." The third division captain ordered calmly, with his sneer still crossing over his face. Izuru looked complete horrified of the scene in front of him, "Ya don't wanna die, yet, do ya?"

"Don't be stupid." Toshiro scolded with a glare, reaching up for his blade, "Just staying back isn't good enough. You better freaking disappear, Kira!" He raised his weapon and pointed it directly towards Gin's direction, his face turning hard. "Even after you can't see us, keep on going. If you're within twelve kilometres in any direction, I'm not certain I won't kill you unintentionally! Alfero, take care of Hinamori, get her out of here."

"Got it," Laria responded, noticing that Izuru had looked towards her direction again. The captain of the tenth division flashed out of sight to reappear in front of Gin with his weapon high in the air. Once he struck the weapon down, the dirt hovered in the air as the smaller captain shot out of the dirt cloud and started to attack Captain Ichimaru.

The two captains began their battle, Laria went to pick up Momo, and something caught her eyes. In a flash, the third seat placed Momo on the ground again to defend herself with Tsuki okami. She clenched her jaw, letting out a dissatisfied hiss as she tried to fight back. He was stronger than Laria was, and easily pushing her back with a scowl. Why was he doing this?

"Kira-san, I knew there was a good reason to not trust you." Laria declared, narrowing her eyes to send a dark glare towards the figure in front of her. She took a few steps back from the strength of Izuru, and gritted her teeth in frustration. "It seems like the captain had every right to keep an eye on you."

The look Izuru gave her was priceless, before his face turned cold again, "I don't know what you're talking about, but I've got to obey my orders as a lieutenant and protect Captain Ichimaru."

Laria bounced away from Izuru, narrowing her eyes as he charged at her again. Had he always been this fast? She raised her hand and forced the reiatsu between her fingers. "Bakudo four, Hainawa!" A rope of energy darted towards the blonde, but he managed to slash through the rope effortlessly. Laria knew it wasn't the brightest idea she has had for the past few days and felt herself charging towards him. They locked blades again, and Laria let out a determined growl, but the determination vanished when she heard the next words.

"Raise your head, Wabisuke!" Izuru's zanpakuto turned into a blunt, box-shaped sword that only made Laria jump back again with a curious stare. Releasing his zanpakuto, it meant the blonde was serious about stopping her from helping out the captain.

_I can't believe that he had to release his zanpakuto in order to defeat me. _Laria narrowed her eyes sharply just as she raised her blade above her head. Reiatsu shot up from her blade as she lifted it and prepared to release it, "Reflect your light Tsuki-" Izuru charged at her again, cutting Laria off from her zanpakuto before she could release it. A metallic ring between the two went off, and Laria narrowed her eyes darkly. Something seemed odd, but Laria ignored it and continued her assault. She felt something going on every time her zanpakuto collided with Izuru's. Her eyes locked with Izuru's when she noticed that he was staring at the blades instead of her face.

"How many times has your weapon struck mine?" Izuru finally broke the silence with a question, making Laria scowl. Before she could answer, a loud voice cut her off again. Seriously, why does everyone keep cutting her off?!

"Reign of the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

Dark clouds hovered over the sky, which signalled Laria to immediately retreat from the fighting. Her eyes witnessed the icicle dragon that she has only seen a few times in her life. Toshiro swung his weapon down, commanding the dragon to go towards Gin and Izuru.

Instantly Laria jumped back, picking Momo up awkwardly to get her out of the crossfire before they but got frozen in the ice. She only managed to observe Izuru getting caught in the ice, and Gin jumping through the air before finding a safe spot of herself and the lieutenant.

"Captain!"Izuru yelled with a distraught voice, his body had been trapped to the ground by ice.

"It's over, Ichimaru!" Toshiro growled, appearing right behind Gin like a ghost. Laria felt a hint of pride coming from her captain. He actually won this fight!

"Shoot to Death, Shinso," Gin uttered dangerously, his voice cold and deadly like a snake's. Laria widened her eyes; she had heard of Gin's zanpakuto, a short appearing weapon which only confused foes however its potential was dangerous. Once he would release it, Shinso would immediately stretch out in a long distance at an unbelievable speed. Though it has the potential of killing all enemies, the ryoka were considered extremely lucky that they survived the attack.

"Captain!" Laria yelled Gin's blade came out from his haori and was barely blocked by Toshiro. Toshiro fell to the ground as the blade, grunting as he was pushed into the ground and the blade continued its path at an astonishing pace.

"Sure ya wanna dodge that?" Gin muttered questioned with a wide grin. At the signal, Laria caught notice of the zanpakuto heading in her direction. Her chestnut eyes widened with horror when she saw the blade head straight towards her and Momo. She'll have to release Tsuki okami now, just as Laria tried lifting her zanpakuto into the air, it suddenly smashed into the ground. Her zanpakuto was just too heavy to move.

_What's going on!?_ Laria thought with horror, trying to move her zanpakuto but it wouldn't budge. She couldn't move out of the way or else Momo would get killed, and if she can't release her weapon-

"They're gonna die."

"Alfero! Hinamori!"

Gin was right, Laria couldn't defend herself on time; she was going to die. Her jaw grit in fury, glaring at the sneering captain as his blade darted towards her chest. Impaled by a captain? Well at least it wasn't a death by a hollow.

Her eyes closed in annoyance, realising that she never got to thank Tahani, or Hozumi... Or the captain. She took another glance towards his direction, noticing that his eyes were filled with rage and panic for both of them. Time was slower in the last moments, and Laria couldn't even move her own feet let alone her zanpakuto.

Just as the blade came within two metres from her, a blur flashed into sight - making the zanpakuto slow down its offensive. Laria's eyes widened with shock, as the blur stopped right in front of her face.

"Matsumoto-san..."

Laria still couldn't move her zanpakuto; the weight was beginning to strain her arms as she finally dropped her weapon into the ground. Her body collapsed on her hands and knees, eyes wide with adrenaline and paranoia. She nearly died just then, and Laria couldn't even move. _Thank you, Lieutenant._

"Withdraw your weapon Captain Ichimaru, or else I will be your opponent from now on." Rangiku warned with a grave tone. Clearly, she didn't want to face the captain of the third division but she appeared ready to do it. When Laria looked towards Gin, her eyes narrowed at his expression. For once, he looked troubled - was it because Rangiku threatened to stand up against him? That did not seem right. Gin was like a snake, it did not matter who it was in front of him, he will kill them without a second thought. That was the kind of reputation that he had.

-:-

Standing below the Sokyoku Hill, two figures appeared into sight, they had their eyes locked on a small particular cave that spewed out a familiar trace. They raised their heads to the cave, wondering silently to themselves if this was going to be it.

"No doubt about it... This is _his_ reiatsu."

The taller figure spoke calmly, keeping the gaze locked in the direction of the reiatsu that they were tracking. It was huge and out of control, as if it was a filled bucket that couldn't fill any more water in it and now it was dripping out.

"Even though its hidden well, it's still showing off," The other figure replied slyly, watching the hill curiously. "How 'bout we give our little strawberry a surprise party?"

-:-

Ichigo was battling with his full potential against Zangetsu; he was beginning to notice that he was able to hold his zanpakuto before it broke at his spirit's attacks. Just as he was going to continue his assault, the entry to the hideout suddenly exploded and two dark figures landed silently on the ground.

_"I was wondering what you could be doing in this place, is that the true form of your zanpakuto?"_

_"He looks like an old man, I didn't expect ya other half to be an old man Ichigo..." _

Those voices. He recognised them instantly - there's was no mistaking it. How on earth did they find him?! Yoruichi had mentioned that she has the entire hideout covered and it would be impossible for anyone to find him. So how on earth was he found by them? Of all people?

_"So hiding out here and training for your bankai? Sounds quite interesting."_

_"Let's not forget to mention quite boring of fighting ya own sword..." _

Ichigo widened his eyes, turning slowly towards the speakers to confirm it himself.

"You better count us in." Renji Abarai sneered, raising his zanpakuto over his shoulders as Tahani Rosa folded her arms beside him with a cocky smirk. Were they here to fight him again? There was no way that he could be able to beat the both of them now that he's spent most of his energy fighting Zangetsu. Yoruichi might be a helping hand, but she too was exhausted from using up her reiatsu to control the zanpakuto doll.

"Renji! Tahani!" Ichigo choked at the sight of the duo. When he battled Renji, he realised that Tahani had even been willing to give up a battle for him. He could obviously see their friendship was strong between the two, but Ichigo had judged it when Tahani had let them go after their fight (normally a friend would avenge their fallen comrade). Seeing her with the redhead lieutenant only confirmed that the two were close.

"Nwah Renji, the kid looks kinda confused. Should we tell him why we're here?" Tahani teased, chuckling when Ichigo glared at her direction. Why was she so intent on calling him either a kid or strawberry? Just because they were at least 'ten lifetimes older than him', it did not mean that he was a kid.

Renji scoffed with his sneer, "Heh. Our reasons of being here are simple." The duo approached Ichigo with their dark looks, which only made Ichigo warier ofthe two. It was only a few days ago when Renji was going to kill him just because Ichigo wanted to save Rukia. Tahani may have defended him on that same day, but that was because she was desperate to have a fight with him. He didn't have enough time to deal with either of them, he needed to master bankai as fast as he could!

"We needed an isolated area to train because there isn't enough time now."

Now that honestly surprised him. Here he was thinking that Renji would want a rematch or at least Tahani asking for a match. Ichigo raised his eyebrows in more confusion at Renji's words. "What do you mean there's not enough time?"

Renji's eyes hardened, giving a look towards Tahani who gave a silent nod to tell him. He then looked coldly back at Ichigo, as if he was still blaming the orange haired shinigami that Rukia was going to get killed. That's why he's here! To save her, "Rukia's execution date changed to tomorrow at noon."

_Tomorrow?!_ Ichigo was slightly surprised, but he didn't feel disturbed. That only built up his confidence; Ichigo knew that he was going to work twice as hard as he has been before.

Renji turned away from Ichigo, his voice was gruff as he spoke, "I hate to admit it, but I can't save Rukia at my level. I came here to train alone so I won't be in your way." His zanpakuto started to glow faintly at command, and then a large shape morphed in front of him, "I'm pretty close with my bankai." As the shape finally took its form, Ichigo slightly widened his eyes in shock. The shape took form as a giant baboon with a snake-like tail and judging Tahani's astonished expression it was probably the first time that she had seen it too. "I'm gonna start training now."

"As for me!" Tahani interrupted after a moment of silence, her eyes twinkling in excitement. "Since I don't know any materialisation yet, I'm just gonna train a bit – this give me an opportunity to get stronger in a few hours." She wielded out her zanpakuto with the steel blade coating in a light blue reiatsu as the raven haired woman rested one hand on the blade and the other on the hilt, "Hunt 'em down, Aisutaiga!" The blade morphed into the shape of two daggers which made Ichigo widen his eyes in shock. This had been the first time he saw the true form of the woman's zanpakuto. They looked dangerous and unpredictable, just like her, "See, it's shiny."

"Noon tomorrow..." Yoruichi was still wide-eyed at the fact that execution had decided. Judging her expression, she only assumed that they didn't have enough time. "There's no way he can achieve bankai by then-" The purple haired woman was suddenly cut off by a blade shattering, her golden eyes noticed that Ichigo destroyed the blade that he was hold without even trying.

"You're the one who suggested this training method, so you of all people should not give up on me!" Ichigo snapped at the woman, his eyes turning fierce with determination. He wasn't going to let Rukia go, with bankai or no bankai – he will save her!

"But Ichigo, what if you still can't get bankai by tomorrow-?"

Ichigo cut her off with a strong voice, "I mentioned it before – I don't want to hear the _'what ifs'_, if the deadline has changed... so what?" He raised the broken sword up in front of him and smashed it completely. "All we have to do is finish before noon tomorrow!"

Renji and Tahani looked over the duo, raising their eyebrows as they watched his determination with slight amusement. His determination grew to no end, and Ichigo was glad that he had it.

**A/n: Over ten thousand words! Holy crackers! Since it was a rewrite, I expected more words but at least double of the orginal... well let's just say it was enough to make me mentally choke.**

**Please review**

**_09/09/2013_**


	9. Chapter 8: A Race to the Rescue

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites**

**Well, the recent chapter I'm on for writing this fanfiction was a bit of a pain... but in the end I managed to get it down xD anyways please enjoy the chapter**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 8: A Race to the Rescue**

"Alright, I still don't know what I'm doing here." Hozumi admitted, sitting in the same room as the scary as ever, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki of division eleventh along with Yachiru, Ikkaku, Yumichika, the guy that he had bumped into the night before known as Aramaki and the lovely ryoka known as Orihime Inoue. However, the rest of the group ignored Hozumi and stared at the only woman in the room with interrogation.

After Yachiru had found Hozumi and Aramaki, she had question the girl on top of his shoulders. The man with the moustache had made up some excuse (he would've sworn it was something about bubbles) and apparently it was enough to bring her over the eleventh division. Hopefully no other captains that were strict into keeping the laws straight were noticing anything dramatic.

"So? What's the deal then, Orihime-chan?" Ikkaku wondered blankly, leaning back from his seat, eyes narrowed in suspicion. The walnut haired girl looked over to Ikkaku with confusion, who honestly didn't care that there was a ryoka in the room. If Hozumi knew anything, it would be that Ikkaku was into the fight, "Is that dumbass Ichigo still breathing?"

Orihime stayed silent at first, she looked at the ground with seriousness in her doe-like eyes and tightened the hold she had on the fabric of the shihakusho she wore. "I want him to be alive," She whispered with a faint frown before she shook her head and stared harder at the ground, "No... I know he's alive."

Hozumi felt clueless that he was the only one (other than Aramaki) who didn't know who Ichigo was or how he looked like. He had heard rumours that he had orange hair, with a zanpakuto as large as his body. Maybe he looked like an orange haired version of Captain Hitsugaya!

"Yeah, he's alive alright." A scoff entered the conversation, Kenpachi Zaraki pushed himself off the bed, showing the bandages that he received after fighting the one and only Ichigo. Just by looking at the bandages, Hozumi just knew that the baby strawberry was going to be powerful. "I can tell that he's alive and trying to get even stronger."

Stronger than he is now? This ryoka had defeated _Kenpachi_ _Zaraki, _a captain no less. How could this Ichigo want to be more powerful than he already is?

"I'll help you, woman. If I go around with you, I get the feeling I'll meet Ichigo soon."

Hozumi didn't know how he got caught up in all the drama, but he was running behind the men that originated from the eleventh division. He had never really spoken to them unless he had paperwork to deliver – oh wait there are times that he has drinking contests with them.

Never mind then...

Orihime hitched a ride on Kenpachi's back, which was surprising the unseated officer. Maybe Kenpachi was getting soft on girls. As if the scarred captain heard him, the giant gave a glare towards Hozumi's direction that made him flinch in fright.

He could not decide who was scarier, him or Hitsugaya.

The higher seats had scolded a bunch of slackers for not cleaning the streets and it only left Hozumi in more confusion. Why was a bunch of lazy, blood-crazed fighters scolding someone in their own division for being lazy? It made sense if it was Yumichika...

"So? Where to next, woman?" Kenpachi questioned dryly, giving a look towards the walnut haired girl who raised her head around the area. She glanced around the thick walls, trying to locate the rest of her comrades.

Orihime mumbled quietly as she was about to point towards a direction, "Erm... I think it's that-" A flash of pink interrupted the human, slamming her face with her head. From behind the captain, Hozumi winced at the loud yelp that Orihime made.

"It's over there!" Yachiru cheered brightly, pointing in the opposite direction to which Orihime was going to point to.

The walnut haired girl nursed her face, holding about pained tears from the impact, "That was mean, Yachiru-chan. What are you doing?" She whimpered towards the small lieutenant of the eleventh division.

"Ken-chan thinks it's this way, too, right?"

"Isn't it better to leave this to Orihime-chan?" Ikkaku wondered briefly, tailing behind his captain with a blank expression. "When it comes to the Lieutenant's searching ability, you almost match the captain's." He reminded, oblivious to the pink haired devil had turned back to him with a dark expression.

"Shut up, Baldy!" She let out a nasty growl before spitting towards his direction. The spit collided with Ikkaku's face, appearing almost like bird droppings. Hozumi immediately covered his mouth, letting the tears stream from the corners of his eyes.

"I'll kill you and Aoki!" The third seat threatened with a flash of his zanpakuto appearing in front of him. That made Hozumi immediately stop laughing and show a wide, cheery grin.

_Just fake it Hozumi, he won't suspect anything if you fake an innocent grin._

"This is just a pain in the ass." Kenpachi growled, narrowing his eye to show off a nasty scowl, "I'm just gonna guess where I'm going." He made a dash to his right with Yachiru raising her arm in moral support and the rest of the crew following along.

"I still don't know why I came." Hozumi whimpered with comical tears streaming down his face. He should probably leave when he gets the chance to; however know his luck he probably would not be leaving until everything had been sorted out.

-:-

Tahani's eyes focused on the sky coloured ceiling, narrowing seriously. _It's time._ She withdrew her zanpakuto, looking towards Renji's direction who was preparing himself for takeoff. _It's seems like we're both ready._ Training by herself was tough, as usual but she managed to pull through the attempts of getting stronger, she still had no zanpakuto materialising. It was unfortunate for her, because Aisutaiga was still being stubborn about agreeing with the materialisation.

Anyways, achieving bankai is probably something Laria would do before her. That would probably take a few hundred years or more though. However, it does not mean that Tahani still can't try getting stronger on her own.

"Alright, we're off." Renji decided after looking towards Tahani's direction. It was something that baffled her for many years, but somehow Renji practically knew when Tahani was ready for action. It annoyed her until no end, but at the same time she felt glad that he was able to read her actions and declare when they were prepared.

To her, she should learn the nifty trick.

The purple haired woman known as Yoruichi, had barely given them her glance of acknowledgement until Renji spoke up to her.

"Do you think that he can do it?"

Yoruichi gave a look towards the duo and stared over to the training kid, her eyes remaining unfazed at the sight of him. "I'm not too worried about him, I know he won't die or anything..."

"But this is bankai we're talking 'bout." Tahani interrupted with a scowl, folding her arms at the thought of the strawberry being able to achieve bankai before she was able to graduate the shinigami academy. "Is it possible?"

"Who knows?" The woman responded, resulting in a glare from the redhead lieutenant and a frown from Tahani. This woman was as useless as paperwork, no one needed it but it seemed to pester life until the end. Tahani was about to turn to disappear when she heard the woman call her and Renji's name. It was enough to stop her, making her scowl in annoyance at the question she had asked next. "Do you two remember when you first learned to walk?"

"How could I possibly remember something like that?!" Renji growled, turning back to glare at the purple haired woman.

"That's just a stupid question," Tahani agreed almost wishing that she didn't even waste her time in this place. She was training for the few hours that she had alone, so it was possible she might get the challenge she has asked for but the more she wasted time chatting, the less she got a chance on getting a nice fresh fight. Then again, Tahani couldn't remember much in her past life, it had been completely blocked out – as if she hadn't existed back then.

"If you don't then you don't consciously know how to do it, so then how are you still able to walk?" Yoruichi responded towards the duo plainly, which paused Tahani from leaving. Her brow furrowed towards the direction of the strawberry, eyes glinting in curiosity. She felt that the woman was right, whether she liked to admit it or not but this purple haired woman was well aware of the situation. "It all leads to instinct, because we instinctively know our strength – we won't think twice to acquire that strength when the time comes. I think Ichigo knows instinctively that he has the ability to acquire bankai!"

Tahani scoffed in annoyance, leering at the kid as she folded her arms across her chest. "Lucky bastard." She looked back to Renji, who seemed to have cooled down about the whole 'Ichigo must die to save Rukia!' dilemma. He noticed that he had eyes on him and gave a look back to the raven haired woman.

"You ready Rosa?" Renji wondered, staring down at her as if he was worried about her. He's being worried about her? It seemed somewhat stupid of Renji to be worried about her, of all people. She's been through enough battles to survive a few more with the redheaded lieutenant.

The raven haired woman smirked cockily, her eyes locked directly with his, "Now Renji, when am I not ready for a fight? It feels like ya barely know me at all!"

-:-

Hozumi felt a sweat drop forming at the sight of the dead-end. Was this normal for a lieutenant to end up in this dead-end position for at least... twenty times now in the past ten minutes? He stared at the one responsible for dragging him along to the trap, oblivious to her fury building. The rest of the group was awkwardly staring at the young lieutenant, trying to figure out ways to cool her temper down. The unseated officer had noticed that Aramaki was too nervous to insult his own lieutenant.

"Well to be fair, navigating does require a lot of luck and these walls do look the same." One of the ryoka spoke, known as Uryu Ishida. He had black hair with strands framing his face, dark blue eyes, pale skin and rectangular shaped glasses that he often pushed up his nose.

"Plus, it's not really uncommon to end up standing in a dead-end for about ten to twenty times in such a short time," Orihime piped up cheerfully, looking back towards Uryu with a giant smile.

"Nwah, you're so adorable Orihime-chan!" Hozumi sang, pinching the walnut haired girl's cheeks with a cheery smile. "I would just love to d-!" He was cut off by a foot slamming the back of his head and planting his face into the ground.

"For the last time, Aoki! I told you to stop pinching Inoue-san's cheeks!" Uryu snapped, slamming his foot continuously on Hozumi's head.

The unseated officer let out a whimper in front of the group, tears streaming down his face comically. "I'm sorry Uryu-kun!"

Uryu slammed his foot again on Hozumi's head, "And stop calling me by my first name! I barely know you!"

Ikkaku gave a weird look towards the men fighting before giving a blank stare towards the fuming pink haired devil. "This is why I told you guys we shouldn't let out Lieutenant to lead the way-!" He was cut off when Yachiru gave him a vicious glare from her spot on Kenpachi and latched onto his head – with her teeth. The third seat let out a shout for Yachiru to release him but she failed to do so while Ishida finally let Hozumi go.

Hozumi rubbed his head painfully and pouted towards the direction of the ryoka. "If I knew this much would happen, I would've just stayed home and napped through this business to let everyone else handle it." He suddenly felt himself pausing in consideration; he detected something odd about the atmosphere in the air. It felt... abnormal.

Yumichika looked around the scene, his lavender eyes narrowed as he approached Kenpachi, "Captain... isn't this?"

"Yeah, I know." The captain responded with a scowl, "This lot is disgraceful, sneaking around like little cowards. Hurry up and show yourselves, hiding isn't what captains do on a normal basis." The reiatsu that was hidden suddenly revealed itself in the opened, making Hozumi stiffen in worry. Sure he could handle a bit of reiatsu pouring out from a crazed captain, but feeling two captains' and lieutenants' reiatsu was a bit over the top for him.

_"That's a way for you of all people to talk,"_ A voice responded with a scoff, _"You are saying this while, but do you realise what you are doing, Kenpachi Zaraki?"_ Four figures revealed themselves in front of the group and Hozumi widened his eyes in recognition.

The dark skinned man with braided hair, glasses to cover the sight of his eyes, an orange scarf and a captain's haori covering his body. This was Kaname Tosen, the captain of the ninth division. Hozumi recognised him by the rumours of the man being completely blind, but only able to see the right path for the world.

His lieutenant was Shuhei Hisagi, a tanned skin man with scars running down the right side of his face while a tattoo of sixty-nine was on the left side of his face. The lieutenant had messy black hair and stern eyes.

Hozumi recognised the other lieutenant as Iba, with short black hair, a moustache and black shades to cover over his eyes. He could only recognise Iba because he use to fight with Tahani when she was challenging him for the fourth seat. She always ended up losing against him, however.

The final captain Sajin Komamura was a giant compared to Kenpachi, with a thick framed body and a helmet covering his head. No one knew how the giant captain looked like under the helmet, some say that he had so many scars on his face that no one could bare to look at him, others say he was so ugly that he wanted to use the helmet to hide his true self away from the Gotei thirteen. Hozumi remembered one time when he was joking around with Tahani, saying that the captain of the seventh division was a humanoid animal.

"Where are you running off with the ryoka?" Tosen questioned sternly, his face pointed towards the direction of the group of ryoka. "It seems that you have lost all sense and pride after the defeat, Zaraki." It was like the man could actually see them with his blind eyes. A shiver went down Hozumi's spine at the thought of a blind man being able to see. It was creepy.

"No way... how are we going to defeat two captains and two lieutenants?" Akamaki stuttered with wide eyes. Hozumi raised an eyebrow towards the tenth seated officer, noticing that the man was actually afraid. Here he was thinking that no one in the eleventh division were afraid of anything, it turns out that some are more frightened than that boy from the fourth division that often heals him.

"Don't tell me you are backing out Aramaki!" Yumichika interrupted with a determined voice, "We are greater in numbers so we have a better chance of winning!" He looked like he was ready for a dangerous battle between the lieutenants and captains. Wow... that was the first time Hozumi had heard Yumichika say something that had nothing to do with beauty of himself. There is something new to learn about everyday!

"Shut up, who said you weaklings are gonna fight?" Kenpachi interrupted with a sneer, his hand curled up in excitement. Hozumi gulped at the powerful feeling of the reiatsu coming from the closet captain to him, "I would like a match four against one, but it's still not good enough for a nice little warm up."

The four used shunpo to appear closer towards the main group, Komamura watched Zaraki with authority in between the holes of his helmet. Now Hozumi really wanted to see how the giant man looked like. "Four against one? Do you think that the four of us are going to battle you alone?" A scoff came from the seventh division captain as he stared down at the small group. "You're level is not that high, so it would seem that you brag too much about your power, Zaraki."

"Man, you guys are too noisy!" Kenpachi retorted with a snarl, wielding out his unnamed zanpakuto and pointed it towards the four. "Hurry up and come at me – four at once might be good. If you attack from four directions, you might be able to wound me." For the first time in his life, Hozumi was glad that he was on the same side as the eleventh division captain. Now he knows why Tahani had such respect for him.

Aramaki approached from behind, looking up to his captain with confusion in his eyes, "Uh Captain?"

"Shut up and get lost!" Kenpachi snapped, not even looking back to say that at his subordinates face. While the man sulked about being told off, Yachiru bounced towards them with a smile towards her captain.

"Don't do that, Higechoro," The little lieutenant commented as her eyes focused on Kenpachi. "Ken-chan's having so much fun, don't interrupt him." Her grin widened automatically and she started to wave at Kenpachi, "We're gonna search for Icchi, catch up with us soon Ken-chan!"

"Yah, be right there."

"Alright! Let's go Boobies, Muscles, Gorilla, Pencil, Hedgehog!" Yachiru grabbed Orihime's arm, hauling her immediately in the opposite direction while Hozumi frowned to himself.

"Hedgehog?" Hozumi lowered his head, realising that he should have left the group long ago.

-:-

Slash!

Each sword that came across Tahani she managed to break it without trying. Each of the unseated officers charged at her, but she sent them flying into the walls without breaking a sweat. Even though Tahani found this boring, she at least felt that she was doing something other than running around and getting lost.

"Please stop lieutenant!"

Tahani looked over to see Renji silently knocking out his subordinates without blinking before the two raced onwards. She noticed that he was in deep thought and he hadn't spoken a word to her since they left from the hideout. He was conflicted, Tahani felt that he was conflicted with the sacrifices that he was going through to save Rukia.

_Renji..._ Her eyes narrowed at the thought, holding out Aisutaiga in the sealed form. _Do ya realise I'm not saving Rukia for anyone else but yerself? I felt like I needed to owe ya anyways. It was fun when I teased ya, but the reason I chose to help ya was because ya helped me become stronger throughout the years._

She had remembered training with Renji for many years, Tahani had to provoke Renji into fighting with her because he would never go his full out strength on her. It was annoying, but she managed to get him the spill his true desire. That desire to defeat his current captain, Byakuya Kuchiki. Tahani did not have a true desire yet, she only wanted to stay with Laria and protect her. Even though she has that reason to remain as a fourth seat, Tahani knew that Laria will not need her for long. She had become a third seat on her own and perhaps once she learned bankai she might become captain. There's a chance she'll reach lieutenant before all of that.

The duo rounded the corner, halted by a powerful reiatsu. Tahani's eyes widened in unrecognition at the power that the mysterious reiatsu came from, but she saw that Renji knew exactly who it was. Her feet refused to move and the muscles in her body froze on the spot. Who was this powerful to make her freeze on the spot?

"Captain... Kuchiki..." Renji answered out loud, seething on the inside.

Tahani raised her head in alarm, following Renji's gaze to see that the _glorious_ Byakuya Kuchiki was standing above the scene with no emotion crossing his eyes. She tightened her jaw in fury, eyes narrowing at the sight of the Kuchiki noble. He wasn't going to survive this time, not with the two of them against him.

"Rosa, Renji... where are you two off to?" Byakuya inquired without a blink in his eyes, he was not even fazed that both had trained powerful enough to defeat him.

"We're going to... Save Rukia." The lieutenant declared in a tight voice, glaring at the black haired captain with fury.

"_No,_" Byakuya corrected in the cold voice that only made Tahani snarl in annoyance, "You are not."

"Ya gonna stop us Captain Kuchiki?" Tahani snapped, her hand tightening on the hilt of Aisutaiga. When she felt his gaze on her, she pulled her lips back into an annoyed snarl. There was no way that she was going to be defeated by this captain, of all captains. If Tahani were going to be killed by a captain, it would probably be either Kenpachi or the Head Captain, no one else!

"I am going and so is Rosa!" Renji protested stubbornly, "Won't you let me pass here peacefully?" As if he was going to do that, Tahani scowled at the Captain's silence – well aware that he wasn't going to let them in the easy way.

"I won't say the same thing twice." Byakuya stated, disappearing from sight instantly. Tahani's eyes widened at the vanishing captain, realising that she could not sense him anywhere. When she did get his reiatsu, Tahani realised that it was already too late. Standing right behind her was the captain of the sixth division, willing to slash her without a moment's hesitation.

Clank!

"Renji?!" Tahani gawped, seeing that the lieutenant had appeared in front of her to block Byakuya's attack. How did Renji catch on about Byakuya's frightening attack? She may be fast, but she was perfectly aware that Byakuya was indeed faster than she was. However Renji was able to deflect the attack faster than her? How did that make any sense? She had always been faster than him!

"Idiot, watch your surroundings!" The redhead commented, making the fourth seat glare at Renji in annoyance. "That's Senka – a different kind of shunpo where you move to the opponent's back, directly attacking and sealing one's hakusu in a strike." Renji explained with a scowl, his eyes leering down his opponent. In order for Byakuya to defeat them, he just uses a cheap little shunpo trick that nearly kills her just because she hasn't faced him?! Now that was a bit unfair in Tahani's eyes, why doesn't Byakuya just release his zanpakuto and be done with it? "Since I have seen it countless times, I have managed to follow the technique and now my body is fast enough to catch up with it. Captain Kuchiki, your blade can no longer kill me."

Like a bolt of lightning, Tahani realised that Renji wasn't going to let her get involved with the fight. This had been his fight since Renji became a shinigami. All those times sparring and challenging each other reminded the raven haired woman realise that Renji wanted this more than ever. This was his chance to win!

"Look at you, talking like you have won." Byakuya observed coolly, only raising his blade in front of him to prepare to strike like a snake, "Why are you so confident? Because you managed to defend a lowly fourth seat?" Tahani snarled at the insult, seeing that Byakuya easily insulted her and didn't even care that she was right in front of him. "With that level of strength, do you really think that you can break my blade?" She sensed the reiatsu stir around the blade, making Tahani raise her blade protectively in front of her face. Not once Tahani had seen the release of Byakuya's blade and she prepared herself for the next attack. "Scatter, Senbonza-" Before the blade could react to its call, Renji had released Zabimaru without command and blocked the blade.

"I already told you Captain Kuchiki, your blade can no longer kill me – because I have trained up til now, to defeat you!" Renji hissed, retracting his blade and keeping his eyes locked with the captain's. "Rosa – stay back, this is my fight."

Even though Tahani still had her doubts about facing Byakuya, she felt her instinct from the eleventh division kicking in. One of the rules that she learned was that she was never allowed to interfere in a dangerous battle, even if it meant death for her comrades. Even though it was tough learning the rules, she managed to pull through and allowed them to proceed. She had already broken the rules from Ichigo's fight, so she doesn't intend on breaking them again.

"Right," Tahani used shunpo to distance herself away, knowing the full extent of Renji's power. He had trained hard enough to earn this legendary battle and she knows clearly that if she was in the way then she might get killed in the process. Her eyes watched the two fighters, a deadly atmosphere loomed on top of them and the fourth seat knew that only one of the fighters would be standing after this match. The reiatsu around Renji's zanpakuto stirred madly, rising at an unbelievable rate before Renji said the one word that made her smirk in satisfaction.

"Bankai!"

The battle scene exploded with the lieutenant's reiatsu, climbing even higher than it was before. Even though the reiatsu was unbelievable, she was now comfortable with the unstoppable power that Renji now owned. Instead of Renji's giant sword was a large skeleton like snake appeared, it had more segments and they are larger than his shikai. He wore a brown fur cowl that went around his neck.

_"Rosa! This is it!"_

_Tahani was sweating from the intense training that she put herself through, but when she heard the excited tone in the redhead's voice she had to turn to see the situation. As soon as the raven haired woman turned, she nearly let out a shocked shriek at the sight of the giant snake but replaced her shriek with. "The heck is that!?" _

_"This is my bankai, idiot!" Renji scowled, letting the snake hiss in agreement. The fourth seat let out a nervous gulp when she saw all the segments and noticed Renji's power doubling hers without a problem. "Hihio Zabimaru."_

_"Looks kind of slow, don't ya think?" Tahani deadpanned, which only resulted in a fierce growl from Renji. _

_Captain Kuchiki... ya gonna regret sending the both of us to a cell!_ Tahani silently declared with a smirk, as the snake had already changed with a roar towards the silent captain. Byakuya used shunpo and appeared on the roof, safely away from the destruction that Renji was causing but Tahani chuckled in amusement. Zabimaru smashed through the towers, knocking them over without difficulty and finally caught the captain by the teeth.

The raven haired woman took a seat, watching as a flash of pink destroyed Renji's bankai in an instant. Renji had informed her of the secret of his bankai and it would be funny seeing the looks on everyone's face when they discovered the truth of Renji's bankai. Luckily, for Byakuya, he was going to be the first to witness Renji's power.

Just like Tahani had predicted, Byakuya's face was priceless when the snake had fixed itself together. His eyes were so wide that they looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets from the confusion of the bankai.

After Renji had sent another strike, Byakuya had slid back from the attack and remained on one knee. This had to be interesting, the ever so unstoppable Byakuya was on one knee after dealing with his lieutenant's attack.

He's not so tough now that Renji can outsmart him in the battle.

Renji sent the snake roaring into battle again, as it approached the captain he lifted his fingers towards the snake. Once she saw how the hand was positioned, Tahani's eyes slightly widened in realisation, recognising the pose from the time when she was training at the academy with Laria. It was a Sokatsui, forming as a bright ball of energy and directing itself towards the snake. The biggest disadvantage in this fight was probably the fact that Byakuya was well informed of his kido and Renji could barely even use a kido move without blowing his face off.

Zabimaru had coiled itself around Renji to protect him from the blast, before the lieutenant sent the snake out again. There was something odd about the way Byakuya was fighting, Tahani's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the scenario as the snake charged again. Just as it came close enough, it suddenly crashed into itself and crumbled to the ground.

"What the heck is that stupid pineapple doing?" Tahani grumbled, scowling at the sight. If Renji lost control of his bankai then that would mean that he would lose and if he lost, he will definitely die. As Renji repaired the weapon, he sent the snake out roaring again but seeing the familiar pose made Tahani clench her jaw. There was no way Renji would fall for a stupid trick again!

Then she saw it.

Rikujokoro.

During the academy days, Laria was trying to practise her kido and with an incantation she managed to create a weaker version of the Bakudo. Seeing Byakuya Kuchiki, a captain no less able to trap a shinigami that couldn't use kido to save their lives made Tahani stand up and jump closer. Six bars firmly planted themselves around Renji, effectively freezing his movements to prevent him from escaping.

"Renji!" She yelled out in panic, she would've ran closer to the fight if she hadn't heard an enraged yell from the lieutenant. Whatever Byakuya had in mind, it wasn't going to end well for Renji.

"Rosa, stay out of this fight!" Renji snapped, not once moving his eyes away from the captain to look back at her. The fourth seat halted herself from going in to use Aisutaiga, but she knew that this was what Renji wanted from her; the fight that he had waited for the entire three and a half decades that she has known him. Tahani was staring back at the fight with wide eyes, she still was far enough to be considered in his safe zone but she wasn't sure about Byakuya's safe zone. She didn't even know what Byakuya's shikai was, let alone the bankai.

It looked like she was going to figure out his bankai anyways. Seeing the captain lift his zanpakuto, pointing it upside down and dropping it into the ground made Tahani widened her eyes in horror. If Renji was trapped then... how was he going to survive this?

Several giant blades appeared, before turning bright pink and floating in the air like cherry blossoms. Luckily for Tahani, she was out of the zone but she was more concerned for Renji. At first, it looked like nothing happened, except the kido and the buildings exploding behind him. However, Tahani realised that Renji wasn't moving, and saw the crimson spray from his body. What on earth happened? The fourth seat didn't care, she just knew that Renji needed medical attention, _right away_. He hadn't even looked this bad when he fought Ichigo.

"Renji!" Tahani shouted with wide eyes, ignoring her gut's orders to stay away from the fight and racing towards Renji. She didn't care that Byakuya could kill her in an instant, she didn't care that Renji wanted to fight Byakuya. Once she got close enough to the lieutenant, she felt Byakuya's cold eyes on her and she snarled in fury. If Renji was unable to defeat Byakuya, then she had no chance at all.

"Give it a rest Rosa; just like you, Renji does not understand difference in strength between him and me." He narrowed his eyes to Renji's collapsed body, as he slowly turned around to leave the area. Tahani's eyes narrowed in hatred, realising that he would just assume that she was so weak that he would not bother with her. "In fact, he should be proud as someone after being struck by this power, was able to retain the form of his body. If you come after me, then you will suffer the same fate as him."

The faint flicker of reiatsu made Tahani pause and look towards Renji's twitching body. A flash of relief flashed in her eyes, but when she saw that the bankai had reformed back into his zanpakuto's sealed form something inside her twisted uncomfortably.

"... Not yet..." Renji groaned, pulling himself up to glare at his opponent. "Leave... Tahani out of this," Tahani's eyes widened once she heard her first name from him. For as long as she has known him, Renji hadn't once called her by her first name. "I can... still fight!" He picked up his weapon with his bloodied hand and dashed towards the captain.

"Did you not hear me? I told you not to move," Byakuya turned around and lashed out a dozen swords towards Renji, piercing through his body.

Tahani flinched at his cries, but as long as he was still alive she would not dare to intervene the fight. "Renji..." It was too soon for them to fight him, Byakuya was just too strong for them. If she survived this, Tahani silently swore to herself that she was going to save Renji and if he didn't make it... Tahani narrowed her eyes in deep thought, if Renji doesn't survive then she'll save Rukia by herself because that's what he had called her for, that's why she was standing here with him.

"Even in death, do you and Rosa still dream of saving Rukia?"

The fourth seat scowled at the sight and she was about to respond to the question out loud but when she heard Renji scoff in pride, she realised that Renji was a fighter. There was no way he would die off so easily. He was a lieutenant of the sixth division for spirit king's sake!

"Of course I am, Tahani and I didn't come for nothing!" Renji pushed himself off the ground, hissing in pain as he glared at the captain. There he goes with the first name again! Was this guy drunk? Maybe he was getting woozy after the blood loss - yes that was certainly it, "I swore... that I will save her..."

By her, Tahani knew that he meant Rukia. She relaxed her hand, sensing the dramatic increase in strength that Renji possessed. He reminded her too much off Ichigo.

"To whom?"

"No one in particular, I swore to my soul!"

Tahani winced at the choice of words, but she ignored that and immediately focused on Renji charging straight towards Byakuya again. She widened her eyes as Renji destroyed the pink swords and attempted to impale the captain through the chest.

Once she witnessed the outcome, Tahani clenched her jaw with worried eyes, "Renji..." She felt that she could not do anything else but watch. The zanpakuto that Tahani had stolen many years ago snapped in half and crumbled under Renji's hand. Her breath had caught in her throat, watching as the blood from Renji's wounds sprayed the second time. There was nothing she could do, no matter what her brain was telling her to do, or what her heart was screaming, Tahani couldn't do anything for that instant.

"Damn it..." Renji slowly made his way to the ground and collapsed the second time, making Tahani take a sense of the situation.

It was automatic now, her feet were moving at a fast pace as if she had used shunpo to approach him. "Renji!" She crouched beside his body and clutching his shihakusho as if it would save his life. "Don't worry! I'll save ya!"

"Congratulations." Byakuya muttered calmly, pulling out his scarf and hurling it over his body. Tahani's eyes leered up at him, but she did not move from her spot. "Your fangs, actually reached me." He stared at his redhead lieutenant and briefly gave a look towards Tahani, "Why have you not prepared to fight me?"

Tahani tightened the hold she had on Renji, her snarl showing off viciously. "Because Captain Kuchiki, ya not my opponent and as a fourth seat of the eleventh division – I will not take on someone who is not my opponent, it's the way I run. Besides, I'm not gonna save anyone else 'cept for Renji."

The captain had given her a cold stare, but brushed the comment lightly and turned away from them, "It seems that even a brutal tiger like you... has a sense of honour," And with that, the Head of the Kuchiki clan walked away from the two, leaving them alone in the deathly silence.

"Ya better stay alive, otherwise I'm gonna bring ya back forcibly just to kick ya ass for dying on me." A faint chuckle escaped Tahani's lips at the mental image before her eyes softened, "I'll get the help ya need Renji... I promise..." Tahani whispered gently, standing back up before she shunpoed from the lieutenant and left him.

-:-

Laria's eyes widened at the powerful feeling that she sensed, making her halt her actions to look towards the Sokyoku Hill. Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku paused as well, both of them narrowing their eyes at the sight of the hill.

"Captain, will we be too late?" Laria questioned with a narrowed expression. If they managed to save Rukia Kuchiki then they might be able to save Tahani. She sensed Tahani was near a battle, but she was worried half to death if someone had tried to strike them.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes sharply and turned away from his subordinates, "Matsumoto, Alfero, we need to hurry!" He commanded, beginning to run through the streets. Laria silently obeyed his commands, forcing the reiatsu that she had to keep up her strength.

_Tahani! Aoki-san! I'm going to stop this execution!_

-:-

_What is this feeling?_ Hozumi wondered, running along with the group with a frown on his face. With the strongest fighters gone, it was probably up to him and Yachiru to lead them to save Rukia Kuchiki from the death execution. However, a strange reiatsu entered the atmosphere and he immediately realised that it was coming from the Sokyoku.

So far, he hadn't sensed anything drastic from his two friends, but he can still feel Tahani's reiatsu pounding the air. It was a good thing that she did not fight with whoever had the monstrous reiatsu.

"I'm gonna go ahead, alright?"

Hearing Yachiru's voice brought Hozumi back into reality. He blinked curiously towards the lieutenant seeing her as the only one that would possibly lead them. Then he remembered the countless dead ends she's led them through and reconsidered his first thought.

"You can get all the small fries, okay? Hedgehog will lead the way!" Yachiru chimed, winking towards the unseated officer before she suddenly dashed ahead. It was almost like shunpo but done by a pink haired devil and by the time the dust cleared there was no trace of her.

"... Wow..." Hozumi stuttered with wide eyes. Wait... was he going to lead them to save Rukia?! That's no fair!

"That was fast..." Uryu agreed with a blank expression.

"More like super fast..." Ganju muttered back.

The entire group looked over to Hozumi who suddenly blinked in realisation. Why was he leading them again? He didn't want anything to do with this! Mentally Hozumi prayed for a way to get out of this group, he wanted nothing to do with it!

_"Well, well, well a bunch of peasants are below me."_

Okay luck, this was extremely bad timing. He knew that voice from anywhere, no matter what life he was living in. His feet halted automatically and he followed the reiatsu with his eyes. Hozumi's grey eyes widened in recognition, along with the group's surprise and faced a large figure standing on the roof.

"You!" He gasped in recognition, seeing that the rest of the group had looked at the large figure with mid-panic.

"I find it even funnier that someone who is punier than trash is hanging out with a bunch of ryoka!" The man jeered, tilting his body to the side to show the lieutenant's badge from the second division.

"Omaeda!"

"Now that's a little harsh Aoki," The man sneered at the unseated officer. "I hear you call everyone by their first names except me..." He narrowed his eyes to taunt Hozumi, which only made Hozumi glare up at the lieutenant. "I can't believe you had the guts to travel around with a bunch of criminals, I thought you had honour!"

Hozumi's eyes darkened in annoyance, drawing out his zanpakuto without another word and facing the larger man. "I'm sorry guys, but I will have to stay behind to fight! You guys please go ahead while I'll deal with this man." The group looked back at Hozumi with worried eyes, but they suddenly accepted the orders that they were given and raced towards their destination.

Omaeda snarled towards the group wielding out his zanpakuto and charging towards the group, "Where do you think you're-!" He was interrupted when Hozumi suddenly appeared in front of him with determination in his eyes and his steel-coated zanpakuto shining in sight. The lieutenant used own zanpakuto to block the attack, making Hozumi jump back with a frown. "This isn't like you Aoki, usually you were about letting anyone doing whatever they want. Was it your parents' disowning that made you rebellious?"

Hozumi let out a war cry, using shunpo to reach closer to Omaeda to cut him down but he was blocked off again. "You do not know anything about me, Omaeda."

The large lieutenant scoffed arrogantly, "I know that you're gonna lose when you're fighting against me, Aoki!" His zanpakuto glowed as Omaeda raised his reiatsu and poured it into his weapon. "Crush 'em, Gegetsuburi!" As the zanpakuto changed shape, Omaeda hurled the large spiky ball towards Hozumi, making him raise his zanpakuto to block it but instead it sent him flying into a wall.

The pain was searing as the rubble fell on Hozumi's head, he winced at the loud sounds of laughter coming from his opponent. That hurt a lot more than it let on! Mentally Hozumi applauded to whoever managed to get beaten into a wall and walk out of it alive.

"Ouch..." Hozumi groaned, reaching his face to feel the sticky bloody that soaked up his headband and trailed down his face. A loud laughter from the outside made Hozumi wince from the arrogance of his opponent, but he forcibly pushed himself to his feet with a moan.

"You're more pathetic than ever Aoki! You're just a lowlife with nothing!" Omaeda boasted, holding his weapon with a giant sneer, "It seems that the Aoki Clan raises nothing but wimps – you're a disgrace to ever be a part of that sorry lot, you can't even get a seating! Right after I beat you're sorry ass, I'm gonna chase down the ryoka to execute them, personally-!" Hozumi used shunpo immediately and slashed the side of his flabby cheek. This surprised him, when he sensed something stirring from the unseated officer.

"You judge me too much Omaeda, that's your biggest flaw..." Hozumi noted with a frown, he looked over to Omaeda who was still trying to recover. "The reason why I do not have a seat is because I am lazy – it's too much paperwork to be in the third seat like Laria-chan. I like the way I live, but I'll tell you this," Hozumi's body began to glow bright yellow as the reiatsu shot up drastically, his grey eyes narrowed towards Omaeda who widened his eyes in shock. "If you insult my family – I will be pissed, if you lay a finger on my friends – I will beat you until you won't be able to recognise your own face and if you dare degrade me or any sort of ability I have because of my choice – I will do both!"

"Bring it on!" Omaeda retorted, hurling his weapon towards the unseated officer again. "You're just an unseated officer who doesn't know the name of his zanpakuto!" Instead of raising his zanpakuto to block it, Hozumi sighed to himself.

_I didn't want to use it... but –_ "Unleash your fury, Yukan Shinzo!" The zanpakuto glowed bright and changed shape, forming a shackle attached to his left wrist, but the blade stretched out into a three-metre cord with tiny hooks on it. Before the giant weapon had hit him, Hozumi lashed the cord and made it rebound off his weapon to strike down Omaeda. The lieutenant did not get a chance to evade the attack because it smashed him back into the wall. "You should take that back, Omaeda! I've known my zanpakuto's name longer than I've known my own friends!"

-:-

_I'm... Alive?_

The clear sky was the first thing that he saw, seeing that he was facing the sky anyways. However, it was impossible to survive those final attacks! Captain Kuchiki had slashed him up enough that he would have eventually died of blood loss. Then he heard her voice, telling him to stay alive or else she bring him back from the dead so that she can kick his ass. Maybe she just brought him back to life and now she was going to kick his ass. He remembered lightly smirking at her promising tone, but everything had faded to black before he could do anything. A faint pressure was touching his tightened chest, which made him look down and widen his eyes.

"It's you!"

"Welcome back!" Hanataro Yamada greeted with a reassuring smile, raising his hands to show that he had healed the lieutenant while he was unconscious. His chest had been completely covered in bandages and his hair was left how it was when he passed out. He had got to invest on some good hair ties if they keep breaking on him.

Renji pushed himself up, wincing at the injuries that were only just stitched up by the boy. "You're that kid that was with Ichigo, why are you here?"

"Now that's rude, jeez that's the last time I try to save ya." He looked over towards the sound of her voice and saw Rosa who was smirking with pride. Renji was somewhat glad that his captain did not harm her; it wasn't her fault that she got dragged into this. She was only willing to follow along because she wanted a challenge.

"Rosa..."

The smirk formed into an annoyed scowl, "Great – now it's back to Rosa, ya know I like it when ya actually called me by my first name." Was he calling her by her first name? He could not remember the words he spoke, except for 'Saving Rukia and swearing it to his soul'; most of the words that he spilled probably came upon instinct and adrenaline. She jerked a thumb next to the blushing kid beside her with the same scowl intact, "I ran into this kid and helped him break the runt out of prison."

Renji widened his eyes in recognition, "Rikichi! What are you...?"

Rikichi looked away as his shy blush faded; trying to avoid the redhead's eyes which only made Renji frown. What was that about? "I was on my way rescuing Hanataro-san to help you out and Tahani-chan was willing to break him out of prison. It was easy with everyone so distracted and with Tahani-chan's abilities. But I couldn't believe that you lost to a ryoka, or even broke out of jail to help a ryoka... you and Tahani-chan even attacked us directly!" Renji felt his chest clench with guilt, giving a look towards Rosa he noticed that her face didn't change expression. Did Rikichi talk to her about this earlier? Or did she not feel the slightest bit guilty for attacking subordinates? Then again, he knew that Rosa did not care for much; it would be rare for her to show any guilt. "... I want to see you and Tahani-chan fight! So I got you this!" Rikichi pulled out a spare uniform, which only made Renji feel slightly uncomfortable that his subordinate actually went in his room.

"Please save Rukia-san!" Hanataro bowed desperately as Renji put on his shihakusho and his hair tie. His bandana went on last, but he looked towards Rosa who showed a cocky smirk in determination.

"We'll save Rukia!" Renji declared with a mirroring smirk.

"Alright, I'll race ya there Renji!" Rosa chuckled, disappearing in a flash, and left the males on their own.

"Renji-san... please take care of Tahani-chan..."Rikichi begged, bowing his head with red cheeks, "She's very important as well!"

"Rikichi." The lieutenant warned, looking towards the distance where he could faintly see Rosa running a few metres ahead, smirking most likely. Rikichi tilted his head quietly, but Renji sent him a dark look and immediately the boy paled at the glare that his lieutenant was giving him. "You can be exactly like me, but don't go after her; Tahani's probably not the girl for you." He muttered with a smirk, well aware of the fact he called her by her first name. "She's like a wild tiger."

**A/n: Definitely not ten thousand words but still pretty big chapter. Now we know that Hozumi has a zanpakuto and he actually does shown negative emotions around those who insult him. I gave Renji his own point of view, which is really awesome :D But anyways, here's the chapter and I hope you can wait another week until the next one**

**Yukan Shinzo - Brave Heart (separately) **

**Please review**

**_16/09/2013_**


	10. Chapter 9: A second traitor?

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 9: A second traitor?**

Tahani already knew that she was considered a traitor once she let Ichigo go after his fight with Renji. She only smirked at the sights of the lieutenant's expressions when they saw her with Renji knocking around the men with ease before he went down on one knee, due to the recent injuries. It turned out that Ichigo managed to save Rukia, now he was standing above everyone with Rukia in his hold and now the few shinigami that were there were watching Ichigo with wide eyes.

Standing in the execution grounds was Byakuya, who was focused on glaring at Ichigo, the second division captain Soifon, the fourth division captain Retsu Unohana, the eight division captain Shunsui Kyoraku, the thirteenth division captain Jushiro Ukitake and the Head Captain. With the captains, the lieutenants Isane Kotestu, Nanao Ise and Chojiro Sasikibe were watching with confusion in their eyes.

"Renji!?"

The raven haired woman scowled at the sight of Rukia, realising that the petite shinigami was not bothering to mention her. Well that's the last time Tahani's going to help out the Kuchiki princess. However, Renji forgot Tahani's presence and smirked with relief, which only made Tahani scowl even more. Jeez, that is the last time she tried helping him out as well.

"Rukia! Are you alright?"

"Renji! You're alive, I'm so glad!"

Oh great, now they sound like those stupid lovers in that extremely old books that some Spearshake* person wrote. "No thanks from me," Tahani growled out sarcastically _finally _getting the attention from the two.

"Tahani... Rosa? What are you doing-?" Rukia almost tilted her head, but she was suddenly lifted into the air. She looked towards Ichigo with a confused expression and asked the same question, "Ichigo, what are you doing?"

"Hey, it looks like Ichigo is about to throw her." Tahani noticed, pointing towards the position that Ichigo was lifting her higher. Renji rose an eyebrow as he watched the duo from his position, "But there's no way he's that stupid – Oh crap he's thrown her!" She widened her eyes at the sheer stupidity of the kid, but she was obvious to the fact that Rukia was shrieking for her life's sake. Maybe it would've been less painless if she had gotten executed. However it was either Rukia was exceedingly light, or Ichigo was extremely strong to be hurling her at frightening speeds.

"Idiot!" Renji snapped, just as Rukia slammed into the redhead and sent him rolling with her for another few metres. Tahani's eyes remained wide, blinking at the crater that the duo had made from Ichigo's stunt. She would hate to be in Renji's shoes right now. But seriously, why would Ichigo throw her like she's a sack of potatoes? There are many things that Tahani had to discover about the human world. Humans were weird.

"Ichigo you moron!" Rukia snapped, immediately recovering with tears in the corner of her eyes. "I'm gonna kill you!" Real ironic since he just saved her from death.

Renji sat up with Rukia with the same expression as the Kuchiki's. "What the hell would've I done if I dropped her asshole?!"

Tahani ran a hand through her hair with a heavy sigh. "Ichigo, there's so many things that ya gotta know about a woman." Throwing them, was not a way to get them on your liking list. It's surprising that Renji doesn't use bankai then and there just to attack Ichigo.

"Get her out of here!" Ichigo responded coolly, casually holding his zanpakuto. "Tahani, Renji – you've got to take Rukia away and protect her with your life!" Tahani's face turned grave, turning towards the redheaded lieutenant to see that he wore the same expression. He immediately stood up and bolted ahead, leaving Tahani to stand alone.

"We'll see ya soon Ichigo!" Tahani chuckled, showing off an arrogant smirk and dashed away from the execution grounds. She looked behind briefly to see that the lieutenants were behind her, about to strike when she saw Ichigo appear in front of them. Her eyes widened in recognition, realising that the kid had gotten a lot faster than the last time she saw.

The sad thing was that had only been a few hours ago.

-:-

Hozumi dodged another strike from Omaeda, letting out a startled cry as the weapon smashed the wall behind him. He turned around while Omaeda retrieved his weapon, lashing his thick cord to wrap around the lieutenant's leg.

"Crap-!"

The unseated officer pulled the cord and flung him through the air, the hooks tearing through his leg as the large lieutenant sailed in the air. He then smirked as the cord landed back onto the ground and Omaeda smashed into the ground in front of him.

"This is what you get, for degrading my ability Omaeda," Hozumi stated and he prepared himself to dash forward, but something wrapped around his ankle and pulled him towards the ground. His face slammed onto the ground, making him groan in pain. "Damn cord..." He looked over to his cord which had tangled itself around his feet, unaware that Omaeda had recovered from the attack.

"You are pathetic Aoki, who trips over their own zanpakuto?" Omaeda taunted, stepping closer towards Hozumi with confidence. A groan came from Hozumi as he tried to step back up, stretching his free hand to point directly towards the lieutenant. "There's no way you would win this, I'm a lieutenant!" He lifted up his weapon and narrowed his eyes. "It's over Aoki!"

"I thought I told you that you shouldn't judge me by a seating!" Hozumi retorted with a bloodied smirk, pointing directly towards Omaeda's hands. "Hado four: Byakurai!" A bright light shot out of his fingers, the attack impaled through his hands, making Omaeda yelp and drop his oversized weapon. As the weapon fell towards the ground, Hozumi pulled himself free from the tangles of his zanpakuto and kicked out his legs to hit him dead centre in the chest.

Omaeda let out a wounded groan, flying back to crash into the wall behind him and leaving a large crater of his body. He limped out of the crater but before he could do anymore, he collapsed on the ground with a curse, "Damn you Aoki..."

Hozumi fist pumped the air with a cheerful grin, "I won!" He returned his zanpakuto to its original form and stared at his weapon. It had been the first time in many years that he had to use his weapon and he did pretty good. The unseated officer let out a yawn and decided that he was over this entire ordeal and he made his way back to the tenth division barracks with a faint smile.

That will teach Omaeda to make fun of Hozumi.

-:-

_This reiatsu... Aoki-san... did you release your zanpakuto?_

Laria raced down with the captain and lieutenant with a serious look in her eyes, suddenly worried if her friend had gotten involved in a battle with a strong reiatsu. She noticed an odd reiatsu coming from the unseated officer and that's when she realised that Hozumi had released his zanpakuto. It was too bad that she did not get to see Hozumi's zanpakuto up close. She also detected the large amounts of reiatsu that were exploding around Seireitei and if she was going to be honest Laria felt sickened at the amount of power that was being poured out.

It was a good thing that Tahani wasn't involved in anything dangerous, knowing Hozumi he would probably return back to the division to get some rest. Luckily he was so lethargic that he wouldn't want to get involved with it anymore.

"The gate guards aren't here..." Rangiku interrupted Laria's thoughts who perked her head up to see that the area was deserted. That was strange for the scene to be empty. Normally there would be at least someone watching the place just in case any intruders dared to come inside.

"It should've been protected since everything has happened here," Laria added with a frown. She could not detect anything at all. Even if someone had been around, there would've been a hint of reiatsu around for at least someone to be warned.

Something odd was going on and just by judging her superiors' expression; Laria could tell that they knew something was strange too.

The captain gave a look around silently before placing his hand on the door. As his hand touch the door, it let out a quiet creak as it opened and revealed the inside of the boundaries. Usually a shinigami that would come here would normally be escorted to the next door, unless they were at captain rank but this time the entire place was silent.

Laria narrowed her eyes and grimaced at the feeling of another migraine coming on. She had been having more migraines as they got closer to the bottom of the case.

_Captain Aizen, why had you been killed? What were you hiding before you passed on?_ The third seat still could not believe that he was dead; she still remembered his lifeless expression staring out into the emptiness of Seireitei. Did the killer merely stab Aizen while he was preparing to attack? Or did the killer catch Aizen off guard? Whoever killed Aizen, this murder must've been planned carefully.

Once they arrived at the second door, Laria's eyes focused on the captain's back as he prepared to push it but found that it wouldn't budge. Wasn't it strange that Central Forty-six were not choosing to respond when they needed them most? Even though Rukia Kuchiki had survived the execution, there would still be many captains that chased after her.

"There are no guards?" Laria was now beginning to get confused. One thing was to have no guards at the first gates, but it was an incredibly risky move to have no guards at the second. Central Forty-six had to be protected by these guards, why the heck were the guards gone?

"This is closed off from the inside," Toshiro observed with a stern voice, taking a quick glance towards his subordinates. They immediately understood his message, eyes briefly widening before they backed away from him, watching the young captain speak up. "This is Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, from the tenth division – I would like an emergency meeting and permission to access Central Forty-six." A faint rumbling sound responded to his call but instead of the door opening, metal bars came down and blocked the passage into the building.

"Why did that happen?" The brunette questioned with a frown, trying to figure out the reaction was probably voice activated.

"Those are the emergency defences," Rangiku responded gravely as she stared at the bars. "It seems that they are still active."

Did that mean something happened to Central Forty-six? No way, that would've been impossible for anything to happen. Maybe they've been taking extra precautions because of the ryoka and the murder incident. However, that still didn't explain the lack of guards protecting the place.

"Alfero, Matsumoto – stand back." Toshiro ordered quietly, unsheathing his zanpakuto with a glare. "There's no avoiding it," Before Laria could ask on his intentions, the captain slashed through the bars like it was rice paper and let the metal crumble in response. Her eyes widened at the choice that he captain made, seeing that there was a gap that was large enough for the trio to enter. Even though it was good for them to go in, isn't it a crime for them to break through the Central Forty-six's door?

"Captain, that was Central Forty-six," Rangiku looked down towards her captain with a shocked frown, "Don't you think that was a bit too far?"

Toshiro didn't look towards his subordinates as he stepped through the rubble and made a face, "Do you hear it?" Laria tried listening out for sounds, but it quickly dawned on her.

"There's no alarm sounding at all," The brunette realised with wide eyes looking around to see if anything had gone off but her observation matched the situation. Nothing could be heard from the dark room and Laria still couldn't sense any reiatsu.

"Exactly," Toshiro responded as he narrowed his eyes. "Even though I broke the door, the alarm isn't sounding. Someone must've beaten us here to defeat the gate guards and they've gained access to the inside, they locked the door, turning off the alarm so that it wouldn't sound before we arrived."

"That would be to prevent a commotion," Rangiku realised as she looked behind her, seeing Laria narrow her eyes sharply.

"This would be a perfect way to not draw any attention," Laria added seriously. Her hands clenched into balls of fists with a stern glare as she stared into the dark hallways. If only they had figured this out sooner! She scowled in annoyance and glared at the ground, but her feet moved at the captain's orders.

As they ran through the halls, Laria realised that her hands were fiddling with her white sash automatically and she felt her stomach drop. She was definitely nervous, Laria did not know why she was feeling so anxious but she knew it was only going to get worse. They went through the single path, running down the stairs as if their lives depended on it and pushed themselves into the main room. Seeing the room made the trio stare at the scene with wide and horrified eyes.

"Central Forty-six was..." Laria did not honestly like the way Central Forty-six dealt their things, in fact they were doing a terrible job but when she saw the room. She finally understood why that they weren't giving any appeals, but she was still baffled by the true mastermind of it all. Spotting the lifeless carcasses spread throughout the room, Laria's mouth could only form one word, "Murdered!" How were they killed in the first place? Central Forty-six may be strict with their policies, but the third seat was aware of the fact that they were well protected, as they were the judges of Soul Society.

Laria walked down the stairs to get a closer look at the dead bodies, sensing that her captain went to a body to touch the nearly black coloured blood. That's odd, it would only be black if it was either old or that the blood was poisoned.

"This blood is dry," The captain observed stonily as he rubbed his fingers together. "It's actually to the point where it's turned black and now it's flaking apart." Copying her captain's actions, Laria's fingers gently grazed over the bloodied tables and felt it crack under her fingertips. How long has it been since anyone has been in here? Would've someone have noticed?! "That means they weren't just killed yesterday or today, how long have they been dead for?"

Now that Laria thought about it, the bodies did have an awful stench in the air. How was it possible for someone to not notice the terrible smells if they had entered? Something wasn't right!

Toshiro continued his observation out loud, "Ever since Abarai was defeated, there had been orders for Central Forty-six to be locked away immediately so no one could come in here. If Central Forty-six have been dead, it obviously means that everyone's orders in Seireitei have been fake this entire time."

_Wait a second... _Laria's eyes widened slightly as she focused on the nearest body to her. "Captain, if the orders have been fake then... what about Rukia Kuchiki?" When the captain didn't respond, Laria's eyes slightly widened. They needed to stop the fighting, now! Rukia Kuchiki had no right to be executed! Then who was giving the captains the orders? It was either someone was still lurking in their shadows or whoever was playing this game had known the captain's intention the entire time. Had it been Gin? After all the suspicious tricks he had been playing? Smiling so casually after Aizen's death? Did Aizen figure this all out and encounter the one who murdered Central Forty-six before he was put to his own death?

"I thought you would've been here, Captain Hitsugaya."

Laria's eyes widened instantly, recognising the empty voice. She whirled her head to the direction of the entrance, seeing the blue eye staring down at her blankly. He had the same expression he had on the night that they fought, Laria tensed uneasily and sensed his reiatsu steaming threateningly.

"Kira-san?"

"Kira, you're not the one who did this, are you?" Toshiro questioned the tall male. At first, Izuru had remained silent at Toshiro's voice, he then turned around and raced out of the room. So he was the traitor? Had he actually killed off the members of Central Forty-six? "After him!"

Laria and Rangiku nodded after their captain, pursing after the third division's lieutenant. He was fast and Laria knew that she couldn't keep up but she was glad that they had a captain on their side. When Toshiro started to get Izuru's attention, Laria finally detected a faint reiatsu back at Central Forty-six.

_Hinamori- san?_ She widened her eyes when she remembered that the fifth division lieutenant was previously kept in a kido barrier so that no one could harm her on the outside. Did she break out of the barrier while they were heading to Central Forty-six?

_"... Haven't you noticed? Hinamori has been following you this entire time."_

Instantly, Toshiro planted his feet down and spun the opposite direction. "Matsumoto, Alfero – you know what to do." He muttered coldly just before he used shunpo to vanish back to Central Forty-six. Laria nodded silently but once again, her hand was clutching onto her sash with distraught as she caught up with Rangiku. Her chest was beginning to anchor down with panic, praying that the murderer wasn't hiding to strike Momo when she was least expecting it.

Izuru suddenly halted his tracks, making Rangiku and Laria furrow their brows to mirror his actions. Laria's glare was fixed on Izuru with fury, seeing that he was willing to betray Seireitei and hurt one of his closest friends. Why wasn't Izuru there with Momo to protect her? Did he care about her at all?

"You stopped running, why's that?" Rangiku spoke up first, her eyes narrowed suspiciously to watch him observe the two of them. They stood on the roof with a dead silence, the duo had their eyes set on the single lieutenant's and he had a cold stare to respond.

"None of you know, am I right?"

Laria's eyebrows drew together in a single line as she took a step closer towards the male lieutenant. "What are you talking about?" She growled, her hand twitching slightly towards the hilt of Tsuki okami. If Izuru attacked them, then it was Laria's duty to protect Rangiku unless her lieutenant ordered her not to. But she will be prepared to defend herself again.

"My zanpakuto's abilities," Izuru answered automatically just as he eyed Laria who stiffened. "Alfero-chan, you did encounter my abilities the other night; however you did not comprehend on what was going on."

She hated to admit it by Izuru was right. Back when they fought, Izuru had fought with her as if he was expecting something to happen. When it did happen, Laria was no longer able to move Tsuki okami but that happened when she was trying to protect Momo. What was going on?

"Well you never really did mention that sort of stuff," Rangiku replied dryly, trying to keep a cool face around the other lieutenant.

"I don't agree with you, Abarai and Hinamori are aware of it and so are a few that I've spoken to." He continued as he unsheathed his zanpakuto and pointed the weapon between the duo. "But that's fine – I can show you two as well." Laria's hand automatically reached up and clutched Tsuki okami, her brow furrowed deeply.

"So I did have the right to fight you the first time," Laria hissed with a glare that rivalled her captain's. "I won't let you get away with it. Captain Ichimaru is a suspect for murder and perhaps something even bigger, you are only defending him which makes you look as guilty as he is."

"Laria," The third seat's eyes widened when she heard Rangiku speak without the suffix. "I know that you have fought him before, but to be on the safe side I will fight him." At first Laria gave her lieutenant a glare that wanted to disobey her; however, she realised that Rangiku was at a higher level than she was and decided to withdraw her weapon.

"Please make it quick, Matsumoto-san..."

Izuru's reiatsu stirred around his zanpakuto, making the duo tense at his power. "Raise your head, Wabisuke!" Once Laria recognised the sword's familiar shape, she saw that Izuru was already next to Rangiku before she had a chance to dodge. Before he could strike, Rangiku pulled out her blade and blocked the feverish strike with a metallic clang. "Good response," Izuru muttered as he tried to strike Rangiku anywhere.

"What's going on Kira?" Rangiku inquired as she blocked all of his attacks as she stepped backwards. Laria's eyes followed on the weapons, slightly noticing that Rangiku's sword was going at a slower pace than it was originally. What was going on? "I seriously don't know what Gin has dragged you into, but-!"

"How many times have you blocked my attacks now?" Izuru interrupted coldly, jumping back as if he was expecting something. Just as Rangiku was going to respond, her zanpakuto smashed through the tiles of the roof. Laria instantly realised that Rangiku's actions had been the same ones as hers on the night that she and Izuru fought. So when she could've defended herself, Izuru had done something to her zanpakuto. "Wabisuke doubles the weight of whatever it slices and it doubles continuously until the user cannot endure the weight and remain on the ground with their head out as if they are apologising."

"So that night-!" Laria growled out, curling her fingers in rage. It made sense now; it was no wonder that she couldn't move her zanpakuto. Izuru only doubled the weight on her zanpakuto!

"Yes Alfero, when I asked on that night you had struck my zanpakuto six times which was at total of fifty one point two. By judging your frame and strength, it's to be expected that you cannot lift past fifty for very long," Laria snarled in annoyance, now aware that she could probably beat him since he had reveal his zanpakuto's abilities to her.

"Who cares about that sort of math?" Rangiku retorted with a determined smirk, "If I can't hold it and run then I won't bother to hold it." Hearing the lieutenant's confidence made the third seat realise on her intentions. Izuru's ability was definitely outmatched against the tenth division lieutenant, "Growl, Haineko!" The katana turned into ash and headed straight towards Izuru, who widened his eyes with shock, "You're finished!"

A faint reiatsu in the distance made the third seat frown, her eyes turned towards the direction where her captain had disappeared off. She felt sadness and anger from the reiatsu. Her eyes widened at another reiatsu, looking towards the fight with a clenched jaw before she used shunpo to disappear. Rangiku had the fight under control; there was no use in watching a fight that she had the upper hand.

Even though she wasn't good with shunpo, Laria realised that she was using it more than ever to retrace her own steps and rush through Central Forty-six with a heavy chest. She ignored the fact that she was now clutching onto her sash as if she depended on it and went through the stairs as fast as she could.

The reiatsu in the room was heavy and powerful, enough to make Laria stumble in her step however she forced herself to keep moving until she entered one of the sacred rooms known as Seijoto Kyorin. Laria didn't care that she wasn't allowed to go in, she only needed to see why she was feeling so drawn to the reiatsu.

She shivered under the cold temperatures and halted once she was in the entry, seeing Gin smiling casually in the background, an unconscious figure that Laria could only detect as Momo, her captain with ice wrapped around him in the form of a dragon, his eyes were filled with rage and pointing his zanpakuto towards a figure.

Laria froze on the spot, her limbs felt like they had been frozen by the ice and her eyes widened as if she had been caught doing something wrong. He was there; it was no illusion, so how was it even possible? "Is that really you, Captain Aizen?"

***Spearshake – At this part, Tahani is actually referring to Shakespeare but she can't recall his name because she's quite bad with names in other worlds. She was also referring more to Romeo and Juliet than the other plays. **

**Fun fact – Tahani had heard about classics when she went to the living world one time and decided to take a read, she didn't understand what half of it meant *Since its written in Shakespearian language* and she threw away the play so she never got to read the ending. From that day, she never bothered a classic book again.**

**Please review**

**_23/09/2013_**


	11. Chapter 10: The Revealed Mask

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. Now this is the final chapter of the Soul Society arc, we will move onto the next story arc, which will be explained by an omake at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 10: The Revealed Mask**

Laria had not developed many friends for the time she had been in the Gotei thirteen. Tahani had been with her since the first day, but Laria could barely recall anything from the day before. She hadn't known anything and she would've normally been considered a bother by a normal person but Tahani had accepted her anyways. Hozumi had become her friend because he was such an open shinigami, who was willing to become friends with anyone. Other than that, Laria had been around the captain so long that other people were willing to keep their distance from her.

When she met Aizen...

Aizen had offered her to train her and he wanted to become her mentor. The brunette had considered this opportunity once in a lifetime and accepted it. With his training, Laria managed to build up her zanjutsu and learn many kido abilities from him. In the end she was able to be promoted as a third seat because of the training she received. It had been an excellent chance to prove herself, so not once Laria had thought of the reason of Aizen's actions.

Sometimes things are too good to be true for a reason.

"It's been a while, Alfero-chan, good to see that you've returned."

Instinct wanted Laria to ask what happened, the truth of everything and declare that everything was all right but as soon as she took a step closer to him, she heard an enraged growl from her own captain. Seeing her captain so furious had frightened her, so her limbs frozen with alarm once she stared at him.

"Alfero, don't take another step to him!" Laria's eyes slightly saw that her captain was willing to go far into ordering her to remain still and she obediently went with his instructions. Before she could ask why, her captain had already started to explain on what was going on. "Aizen is the one pulling the strings! He stabbed Hinamori just before I came here!"

The brunette wanted nothing more than to deny her own captain, to shake her head and let out an enraged protest but when she saw that Aizen had chuckled lightly at the response, "Captain Aizen..." Laria spoke up, her brow furrowed deeply as he turned his attention towards her, "What my Captain is saying, is it true...?"

"You catch on quickly, Alfero-chan." Aizen noted with a sneer, turning back to white haired captain who snarled viciously. She could not respond to his words, her eyes widened in horror and tried to recall if any of those moments they had were real. If they really been friends? What was Aizen doing? Daring to betray everyone? Even Momo, who had been completely faithful and obeyed to everything that he had asked for.

"Aizen, I will kill you!" Toshiro declared as he raised his reiatsu with fury. What happened while she and Rangiku were fighting with Izuru?

"Now, you shouldn't use such strong words Captain Hitsugaya," Aizen responded his sneer darkening in front of the white haired captain. "That will make you seem weak, especially in front of your subordinates like Alfero-chan." His words were mocking to the two, but Laria was still trying to accept what was happening right in front of her.

This wasn't how Aizen spoke. Captain Aizen spoke gently to his comrades, smiling to inform Soul Society he's got everything covered or offering everyone a bit of his wisdom for advice. That was the kind of man who Sosuke Aizen was. He was the captain of the fifth division; he was her friend and her mentor, not this sadistic man in front of them. It had to be an imposter. The third seat tried to tell herself countless times that Aizen was merely playing a horrible joke, however seeing him with a menacing grin on his face made her bite back her words.

Since Laria was unable to move in horror and confusion, Toshiro ignored Aizen's words with a scowl, making a quick dash towards him in hints of fury, using his zanpakuto to impale him directly in the centre of his chest. She watched with wide and puzzled eyes as Aizen's body encased in ice, freezing him on the spot.

Laria blinked once and she saw that Aizen was standing behind her captain; he wasn't in the ice like they had thought he was and Toshiro was cursing under his breath. Scarlet liquid spewed from the white haired captain and Laria had widened her eyes with horror. His icy form shattered in front of her and once he had collapsed, the chilly atmosphere had settled around the room.

She had never felt anything like it before. To the young brunette, it had felt like a million blades had pierced through her heart in slow motion. It was enough to block out all the sounds that had gone in the chamber and it was enough to block out the reiatsu battles from the distance. Her blood drained from her face, unable to move as she witnessed the scene in front of her.

Why was she feeling like this? Her captain, the one that she's admired +ever since the first day of becoming a part of the Gotei thirteen was slowly falling to the ground to meet his death. Something in her chest twisted, her breathing started to hitch out of control and her cheeks felt wet. Was she crying? The brunette ignored the tears, letting out a distraught scream of horror – the first sound that she managed to make for the past few moments.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" She ran towards him, ignoring the dark sneers from both captains that were with her and she crouched to his level. Her vision became blurred with tears and Laria tried to force them away but could not find the strength to get rid of them, "Don't worry captain I will save you!" Laria's shaky hands went above her captain's chest to where he was slashed, letting a bluish green light hover over him.

"He's dead, Alfero-chan..."

_No!_ Laria denied the voice that belonged to Aizen silently, squeezing her eyes shut to let more tears stream down. _He is not dead! Please do not be dead!_ She focused on the healing, trying to at least stop the bleeding so that he would survive. Even if it was barely! There was no way that Laria would be able to heal him completely, but the most that she wanted was him to survive. If he did not survive this... she would never forgive herself for his death.

"It is no use-"

"Shut up!" The third seat snapped, eyes leering over to the one responsible in pure fury. Her angered reaction didn't faze Aizen to the least and it only infuriated her more. "What happened? Why would you do this?" Laria's voice shook with a mixture of misfortune, anger and guilt. If her captain did not survive then she will not forgive Aizen.

"This is a lovely view," Aizen observed with a calm face and walked towards the two. Laria instinctively use her body as a shield to protect her captain, even though she knew that Aizen was able to defeat her without much effort. "This is a lot like you, Laria Alfero." He raised his eyes to see that Laria only snarled wider, "You're closer than your past self than you realise – loyal to the ones you care about."

Laria's eyes widened and as if it was magic, she had recalled a distant memory toying with her mind.

_"I only wish that I know about my past self, so that I discover who I am."_

Aizen had asked why Laria wanted to fight that day and she had answered immediately with a determined smirk on her face. "What..." Her voice lowered to a murmur automatically, "What do you know... about my past self?"

"So you have clearly forgotten..." The taller brunette noted, taking a step closer to Laria and Toshiro. He saw that she stiffened under his movements and showed off a sneer, "You were just a creation, not even a real person."

"What do you mean?" Laria hissed, feeling something stir at the pit of her stomach. It wasn't sadness that she was feeling – it was pure rage. Rage was burning through her stomach like fire, threatening to spill through her reiatsu and body language.

"Laria Alfero, you and Tahani Rosa are nothing but rejected experiments from the past – the reason she is secretly bloodthirsty and the reason you have no knowledge on your history is because I was involved with it."

Tahani was a part of it too? Laria tried shaking her head, but her body wouldn't move expect for her arms. Her arms were only heading towards the hilt of her zanpakuto. The rage was boiling under her skin like a kettle and at the same time her eyes darkened in fury. He took the past away from her, turned Tahani into something else, stabbed his admirers and attempted to kill her captain.

"How dare you..." Laria snarled, the heat was flooding through her body. She had not experienced this feeling in her, ever. Whatever it was, it was giving her less time to think and more reason to attack him. "Give me knowledge, advice, my seating position - I become a seated officer because of you... all for a ridiculous game you are messing with."

"You are no more use of me – you are a failure, there's no point of your survival now," He taunted with a dark sneer, lowering his head to watch her eyes.

Aizen will have no mercy from her.

Laria stood on her feet with rage and tears in her eyes, raising her reiatsu at a frightening pace. She wasn't controlling her actions, she only cared that his head would be by her feet. This man in front of her, was not Aizen.

Aizen was not this man.

However, a voice silently told Laria that he was finally revealing his true face.

She hauled out her zanpakuto, raising it in the air with killer's intent. "Reflect your light," Her zanpakuto turned bright as it slowly divided into duo blades. "Tsuki okami!" As her blades released their true form, she let them glow black and white as she changed towards his without thinking, "Tsukisofu!" The two different aura sources headed towards Aizen at frightening speed, however he simply lifted his hand and rebounded the attacks in another direction.

How, did he block it with his bare hands? Laria stared at the damage she caused with wide eyes, her hands clutching onto her zanpakuto. The destruction caused by the attack was enormous, however Aizen didn't even look harmed.

"I admit that your technique is powerful, however it is still flawed," Aizen commented before he appeared right behind her with a dark stare just as he raised his own zanpakuto and prepared to strike her down, "That will be your weakness-"

Laria used one of the swords to block, however it only resulted in the blade shattering. Her eyes widened in horror, seeing that one of her swords broke from the contact of her opponent's weapon.

"Tsuki okami is the most mysterious zanpakuto in Soul Society," Aizen began as Laria jumped away from the captain. She needed to stay away from him until she figured out how to fight him. "Not even you, as the wielder know anything about your zanpakuto." He stopped walking, staring at Laria with that all-knowing sneer that she was beginning to dislike, "You have two swords – one of them is made of fragile reiryoku that shatters upon contact with another zanpakuto - the reason you have that sword is currently unknown." He explained as Laria tensed at the mention of her own weapon. "You told me this when you first released your zanpakuto and that was the most foolish thing to do after letting your own captain die."

Laria's rage shot back up, she used shunpo to get closer to Aizen and let out a war cry. Her blade collided with Aizen's as it began to form a black energy around the white blade. "Tsukisofu!" The attack exploded in between them and Laria used the opportunity to retreat back in the safety of the distance. She might need to start using kido now, however it might be complicated since Aizen was also a kido user. Her hand retracted near her face as she formed the kido, "Hado thirty three-!" The kido that had barely formed in her hand weakened as Laria felt something pierce through her stomach.

"I thought I told you that your technique is flawed, and here I thought you were able to understand easier than the rest." He muttered with a slightly bored tone in his voice as he stabbed her.

Laria's eyes widened once she saw Aizen standing over her, his blade impaled through her stomach. He easily pulled out the blade and slashed through her body like it was nothing; the tall brunette watched with little interest as the blood spouted out of her abdomen.

"Damn..." The third seat cursed, collapsing towards the ground with a heavy thud. Her blood pooled around body, which finally began to feel heavy from so much use. With little strength, her eyes went over to her unconscious captain and her eyes began to fill with tears again. "Forgive me Captain Hitsugaya, I was not strong enough..." Laria's vision began to fail her, but she did not fail to detect two powerful sets of reiatsu rushing straight into the scene.

_"Alfero, why do you like to stare at the sky?"_

_"Well... it's because..."_

_I cannot remember what I said that night..._

**-:-**

_It's too empty here._

The fourth seat considered with a hard gaze, running silently next to Renji who was clutching Rukia's tiny frame as if his life depended on it. Ever since they had escaped the Sokyoku Hill, there had not been one shinigami that had foolishly tried to attack them because they had a death row prisoner in Renji's arms. It seemed that the rescuers were too into the scene to consider on what was happening around them but when Tahani sensed Laria's reiatsu raise in the distance her brow furrowed in confusion.

What was going on for the brunette? Why had her reiatsu suddenly dropped only a few moments ago? She was distracted by the thoughts of Laria that she didn't even notice Renji stop until she noticed the ninth division captain standing in front of them.

"Captain Tosen?! Why are you here?" Renji inquired with confusion in his eyes.

Tahani narrowed her eyes and pulled out her zanpakuto with a light smirk, stepping in front of Renji as if she was going to defend him with her life. "It seems that I finally get a challenge that I'm looking for." She snickered just as she made a swift dash towards the captain without hearing the words that Renji shouted out, "Ya not gonna get Rukia!" Just before she could land a hit on him, Tosen pulled out a long white tape and spun it around the small group. As it spun around, Tahani halted her movements and looked around herself to see that Renji and Rukia were standing with her in the perimeter.

"What the hell?!" Renji looked around and the tape had completely covered their surroundings. The sensation was heavy, dragging Tahani and Renji into the ground to give them massive coughing fits. What the heck was that? It was the weirdest kido that Tahani had ever encountered. Silently, the fourth seat swore that once all this drama was over with that she was no longer going to let Laria use kido on her again.

Once the tape disappeared, Tahani's midnight orbs looked up and she automatically widened her eyes in annoyance, "How...?"

"This is Sokyoku hill!" Renji exclaimed, but Tahani quickly realised on why Tosen had brought them here. He was a captain and since he was a captain, his first obligation was to get Rukia and kill anyone that helped her escaped... meaning them two.

"Abarai-kun and Rosa-kun, welcome back." Hearing the slightly familiar voice, Tahani turned back to see Sosuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru reappearing in the same technique that Tosen had used. What the hell? Wasn't Aizen meant to be dead? Someone murdered him, Tahani was sure of it! Her eyes widened in confusion, watching both of the captains with wary eyes. One captain, Tahani may be able to distract long enough for Renji to run from, but three captains, Tahani knew that she was not going to be able to hold them off. "Put down Rukia Kuchiki, Abarai-kun and the both of you should step aside."

Silence dawned from the trio, just as Tahani pushed herself on her feet and stared in confusion. Renji clutched onto Rukia tighter and gave Aizen a puzzled look, "Captain-"

"What happened?! How are ya still alive?!" Tahani snapped, cutting Renji off any questions with a strong voice as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. If Aizen was alive, then where were the other captains that she had not seen like Komamura or Hitsugaya?

"What... did you say?" Renji let out, his eyes slightly widening in shock, which made Tahani look back to face him. Why was he so surprised? Aizen was a captain; of course it was one of his requirements to hack off any criminals that were trying to escape. The only way that question would have made any sense was if Aizen had been against the execution as well.

"Now that's strange," Aizen noted towards the trio, "I would've thought that the order I gave you was simple enough even for you to understand." He looked down at Renji, not even keeping his focus on Tahani. "But since you and Rosa-kun are the troublesome ones there's no avoiding it. I said for you to put down Rukia Kuchiki and move aside."

_"Tenteikura!"_

Tahani's eyebrows rose once she sensed the reiatsu in the air, feeling it as kido. She had not felt this presence of a kido at all. It felt rather strange like the one Tosen used on her.

_"Those of Captain, Lieutenant, and any temporary lieutenants status in the Gotei Thirteen, as well as all of the Ryoka, this is fourth division lieutenant Isane Kotetsu. This is an emergency. This is an emergency message from the fourth division Captain Retsu Unohana and I. Everything I am about to tell you is true."_

Isane from the fourth division? Tahani's eyes narrowed as she listened to the story that the lieutenant had to tell and her eyes widened as she heard Aizen's true colours. Therefore, this Aizen was not intending on anything good and she was not feeling like it was the worst part yet. Once Isane finished the story, Tahani felt something twist in her chest.

_Laria... is critically injured?!_ Tahani's eyes widened in rage, locking directly towards Aizen's calm and collected expression. No, Laria couldn't have been injured... it was impossible – however Laria's reiatsu had gone down before, it only made sense that she was to lose a battle, but... "Laria..." Now she was enraged, Tahani's reiatsu raised as she snarled viciously at the three captains in front of her.

"I refuse, Captain Aizen." Renji's voice brought her out of the rage, but she still had a heated glare towards him.

"I agree," The fourth seat growled heavily, "I'm not going to let ya lay a finger on Rukia." Her eyes narrowed sharply automatically, "I didn't come here for everything to be in vain!"

"I guess it's alright that the two of you want to stay with Rukia Kuchiki - after all Abarai-kun you are Rukia Kuchiki's friend for many years and Rosa-kun, you are extremely loyal to your friends," Aizen approached the trio as he pulled out his zanpakuto. "I'll just slice off Abarai-kun's arms and you can step away to watch from the distance." He raised his zanpakuto in front of Renji and prepared to strike down.

Tahani's eyes squeezed shut, pushing as hard as she could with her feet so that she could make it on time. Her body was light in the air, appearing in front of Renji and Rukia in an instant, taking in the hit that was intended for the lieutenant. As soon as her eyes opened, she saw that Aizen was a few metres back with a mild look of surprise and red liquid – her blood hovering in the air. Tahani cringed from the sword slashing her body, coughing up the air that caught up in her throat.

"Rosa!"

Whether it was Rukia or Renji or both, Tahani couldn't tell. She had stood in front of them with her arms spread out, well aware of the fact she was unable to defend herself when she did rushed close enough to defend Renji. Now she had a large gash appearing from her right shoulder down. Luckily, it didn't seem like it was the worst wound she's had.

"That's rather impressive, considering that I intended on cutting your entire arm off. If you hadn't jumped back just when Abarai-kun did then it would've been on the ground." The brunette captain observed, watching as Tahani let her right arm go down beside her with a nasty scowl on her face. She needed to survive for Laria!

"Rosa..." That time Tahani knew that it was Renji, she looked over towards the lieutenant with a scowl. "Why did you...?"

"Ya the one who wanted to save Rukia - I just came for the challenge," Tahani hissed raising her blade in front of her face. "Ya gonna need the all the strength ya can get to protect her," She looked back with a cocky smirk, noticing that the duo were staring at her with shock. The lieutenant had pulled out his zanpakuto and kept his eyes locked in with hers. Midnight connected with russet and for the first time since this drama began, Tahani felt at peace. Her smirk didn't leave as she opened her mouth, "It would be just like ya wanted."

Renji remained staring at her; he looked like he learned the meaning of life by her little pep talk, "Tahani..."

"I do like it when ya call me by my first name," Tahani declared as she turned back to face Aizen, eyes hardeninging once again. "I feel like I'm an equal to ya," Her smirk grew dark, showing that she wasn't happy for once in a battle. A battle to her was usually fun, but this had been the same man that attacked Laria back at the chamber. This bastard is going to die, "Besides, I owe this bastard a favour from Laria!"

"So that powerful reiatsu was tenteikura before, I'm guessing it was from the lieutenant." Aizen interrupted, his lips slightly curving into a smile. "Just like Hinamori-kun, I had to dispose Alfero-chan because of how I manipulated them – I tried to get Kira-kun to kill them both and Hitsugaya-kun at one point however that didn't work and I had no choice but to do it myself."

"So we're all just your puppets you manipulated at your will?" Renji snarled, taking a threatening step towards Aizen. "I get it, you're not the same Captain Aizen that I know anymore – I don't care what you do, but we won't let you get Rukia even if you kill us!" Tahani nodded in agreement as focused on a plan; she had never been the one to think of these sorts of things but there were not exactly any geniuses around in the first place.

"I'm not the captain Aizen you know? Unfortunate for you, that is just your delusion Abarai-kun." Aizen sneered down at the small group, "I was never that Captain Aizen to begin with."

"Let's go, Renji!" Tahani let out, racing around Aizen as she held her zanpakuto and forced the reiatsu in her weapon. Renji scoffed in agreement and leaped into the air, "Hunt 'em down, Aisutaiga!" Once she got the duo daggers, she made a sharp turn towards Aizen with killer intent in her eyes.

"Howl Zabimaru," Renji yelled out from above as he whipped out his segmented blade towards the captain. Aizen used his zanpakuto to change Zabimaru's direction before he eyed Tahani who was approaching him from the side. He waited until Renji was able to pull away and strike Tahani with his zanpakuto but was able to use the daggers to hold his sword.

"Go now, Renji!" The raven haired woman ordered with a glare, groaning at the wound that she had. Hearing the command, Renji lashed out his weapon with a war cry towards Aizen while he was distracted.

"Troublesome children..." Aizen sneered, raising his free hand to clutch onto Zabimaru's blade. Tahani's eyes widened with horror, seeing that he was holding her _and_ Renji back without breaking a sweat. "You two... have always been so difficult to handle." He easily pulled away from her block, slashing her down to send her flying a few metres back. Tahani groaned as her body slammed into the ground and she tried pushing herself up, but she was distracted by watching Aizen effortlessly destroying Renji's zanpakuto.

"Can we... defeat Aizen...?" She asked aloud, cringing at her new injury that was right in front of her stomach. If Renji used bankai, maybe that would work but there was no way that they could survive with the way they were going. Aizen began to talk to Renji up close and personal, leaving Tahani on the ground and unfinished. _Bastard! He doesn't even finish off his kills!_

"Please wait, Captain Aizen!" Rukia protested before any more damage could happen, which made Tahani scowl in annoyance. She swore to the mighty Spirit King that if Rukia dared to sacrifice herself in order to save their lives she will suffocate the Kuchiki with one of those human pillowcases.

"Be quiet Rukia, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll never let her go, you bastard!"

Tahani widened her eyes in shock, feeling the determination from Renji. Back when they had spoken about their lives, Tahani had noticed that Renji had cared for Rukia to the point that the fourth seat got annoyed by it. Now that he was holding onto her, willing to die for her, Tahani realised that if she was in his shoes – holding on Laria – that she would be willing to suffer a thousand deaths for the brunette.

"I see, this is unfortunate," Aizen retorted as he raised the zanpakuto in the air again, only this time Tahani knew that she wouldn't make it.

"Renji!" Tahani shouted with panic, pushing herself onto her feet forcibly and raced towards him. If she didn't make it – no – Tahani would refuse to think like that. However, everything had slowed down as she ran, each breath she was taking felt like it was tearing her insides and both arms were aching from the wounds. She had to make it -!

A sword clash suddenly interrupted Renji's death, which halted Tahani automatically. Her eyes widened in shock and the fourth seat felt a flash of relief crossing over her face.

"Bloody hell Ichigo! Don't scare me like that!"

Ichigo was standing right in front of Renji, with different clothing and a thin black blade blocking Aizen's weapon. Tahani's eyes widened, seeing that the duo had used the opportunity of surprise to jump away from the captain. She used shunpo to appear in front of them, placing a hand (with the dagger still in her hand) on Ichigo's shoulder with a tired smirk.

He at first looked surprised, and then he noticed her wounds. "Tahani... this is the first time I've seen you beaten so badly."

"Ah shut up," Tahani growled giving a glare towards the kid.

"No worries, when this is over I'll get my friend to heal your wounds." Ichigo promised, relaxing once Tahani's hand was removed from his shoulder. She grinned sheepishly, pulling away her weapon so that she accidentally didn't stab him in the eye. The last thing she needed was to kill the only one that might be able to help her.

"Ichigo..." Renji muttered in a low voice, hiding his eyes away from the kid. "Sorry I look like a mess, you came here to save us," Tahani blinked towards the direction of Renji seeing that he was apologising to the same person that he had considered his enemy a few days ago. It was so weird whenever people acted like that, it's like Renji is some woman with raging mood swings. A soft snicker escaped her throat at the consideration.

"Oh that?" Ichigo gave a weak smirk and it was enough to make Renji raise his head in confusion, "You got pretty beaten up just carrying Rukia around, jeez and here I thought I was giving you the easy job. It looks like she's too heavy for you to run with anyways, huh?"

"Well to be fair, Renji does have hair longer than mine so he's probably just a manly looking girl." Tahani joined in with a smirk, seeing that Ichigo had a grin with her.

"Don't you dare side with him Rosa!" Renji snapped, sending daggers towards the fourth seat before he shot a look towards Ichigo. "Anyways Ichigo, what the hell are you implying? Aren't you looking a little wobbly yourself? You should be huddled up in bed instead of coming here."

"What was that? Jeez I can tell that you're grateful for the one that rescued you! Is that what you have to say to the guy that saved your ass?"

Tahani's eyes looked towards Renji's chest, seeing that hand was firmly behind Rukia's head. "Uh, Renji-"

"You stupid moron! I tried to thank you, but you-!" A fist connected with Renji's face, cutting him off from any more talking. Tahani's brow was deeply furrowed as a thick vein throbbed on her forehead. She gave one look to Ichigo, who ultimately paled at her glares.

"Ya stupid pineapple, aren't ya forgetting something?" That is what Renji got for not getting her attention in the first place.

Renji and Ichigo gave Tahani a blank stare, before they stared down to look at Rukia whose face was pressed up against Renji's chest. As soon as she was released by the suffocating grip, Rukia started ranting about her own life, leaving the boys to question if she was all right. Oh no, she was going to be freaking okay after being suffocated... Jeez, some people need to think about better questions.

"You fool!" The Kuchiki screamed furiously, striking Renji in the same spot that Tahani had punched him previously. "Am I fighting to break the record in hold holding my breath? Getting into a conversation while holding me to your chest with all of your strength is not exactly the way I plan to die!"

Hearing Aizen and Gin converse, the four stopped their comical moment to give a direct stare towards the traitors. Tahani tightened the grip that she had on the two daggers, seeing that Aizen and Gin weren't going to get captured any time soon.

_Oi pushover!_ Aisutaiga called out with that annoying tone that makes Tahani want to go deaf. _Be careful, these two captains managed to kill off all the members of Central Forty-six and threw Seireitei into chaos. _

_Moron, I know that I won't be able to win besides, ya do realise Central Forty-six are as impressive as paperwork._ The raven haired woman replied, narrowing her eyes in the direction of Aizen. He hurt Laria, no matter what the bastard dies. She doesn't care whose blade kills him but he was gonna die.

"Do either of you have enough strength to escape?" Ichigo wondered quietly, not focusing his gaze towards the comrades that he's gained on his journey.

"Bitch please," Tahani cackled with a dark sneer, "Ya know that I got enough strength to run a marathon around Seireitei, but I'm not gonna go hide like a little bunny." Rukia had given a spare glance towards Tahani and if anything, Rukia was glaring at her for the comment. "I'm a tiger, after all..."

"I agree with Tahani, I have enough strength but even you know that running away is pointless." Renji spoke gruffly, tightening the hold he had on Zabimaru. "We won't have to beat them, we just have to make it so that somehow he can't move until some captains arrive. But considering that they beat us into pulp without breaking a sweat..." He placed Rukia on the ground, letting her watch the scene with worried eyes.

"Ah, ya so negative Renji!" Tahani interrupted as her face morphed back into a smirk, "All we need to do is basically evade all their attacks! Anyways, the only way for him to kill me is if he tears out my throat!"

Ichigo slowly gulped at Tahani's choice of words, but he turned back to the enemies raising his black sword to show off the infamous glare. "I guess there's no other choice then, are you prepared for our new combination?" He questioned, seeing that Renji had already pulled himself into action. "Tahani..."

"Yeah, yeah... I'll protect Rukia," The fourth seat responded with a blank scowl. "But seriously, ya guys have to give me a bit of action ya know... I'm giving up my fights for all of ya." Now that she's thought about it properly, Tahani hasn't had a dramatic fight like she had wanted. She's been too busy giving her fights to other people and when she gets the opportunity she has to go help someone out.

The orange haired kid frowned, "Actually I was going to say I definitely owe you a fight," Tahani looked at him like he had grown a second head. "But thanks for volunteering."

Tahani's face scrunched up in annoyance, "Yeah whatever." There was no point in arguing with the kid anymore. Who's she kidding? Tahani won't get the fight ever again.

On cue, Renji had slammed his damage weapon into the ground, forcing the broken remains to hover in the air with a red glow. Each of the broken segments went straight down to Aizen, which gave Ichigo his signal. The kid charged towards Aizen with his zanpakuto ready to cut the captain down.

"Rosa... why are you doing this...?" Rukia wondered quietly, looking over to the taller woman with worry in her eyes for her friends, "You don't even know me."

Tahani didn't look back at Rukia, watching Ichigo race towards Aizen's at frightening speeds. He definitely surpassed her during the time he was training. Her eyes narrowed as they focused on the fight and nothing else, "I'll tell ya later..." She answered just as Ichigo was close enough to strike him down. Now it was Ichigo's chance!

Ichigo let out a yell as he swung his weapon, but Aizen raised his hand and blocked the attack.

With one finger.

"Ichigo!" Tahani yelled in panic as Aizen hacked into his waist. Ichigo's blood poured out excessively before he collapsed onto the ground and stopped moving.

The captain wasn't even harmed by Renji's attack, which only made Tahani seethe in fury. If two combined forces weren't going to work, then how on earth was Tahani able to defend Rukia once Aizen comes by?

"No! No way!" Renji panicked, preparing to defend himself when Aizen used shunpo to fly past him. Aizen reappeared behind Renji with his blade out and Renji letting out a defeated groan.

_Crap!_ Tahani cursed silently, tightening the grasp she had on her daggers. _There's no way that we can win this!_ She wouldn't dare scream out in defeat, she belonged in the eleventh division for a reason and she wouldn't dare to back down a fight. "Ya bastard, I'll kill ya for what ya did to Laria and let ya blood paint the grounds!" Her feet made a quick dash towards Aizen, her eyes were hardened with fury.

"You really are the Chitora..."

That second of hesitation was exactly what Aizen needed so that Tahani was distracted. He was in front of her in an instant, impaling his blade into her chest when he had the chance. Tahani's body lost the strength to stand upright and leaned into the captain's sword. She lost the feeling of her arms, which probably meant that she dropped the daggers on the ground. Immediately Tahani coughed, spewing out a mouthful of blood that was clogged in her throat.

"This blade had been the same blade to kill your friends... does that make you feel enraged?"

Tahani was enraged, but the pain was unbearable. Her throat only gave the response of another blood-filled cough before Aizen dropped her to the ground.

"I have heard about the Chitora before you met Alfero-chan, you have no limits to when you would stop fighting unless you were dead – unfortunately for you..."

_I can't... hear him..._ The raven haired woman tried to move, but her entire body was either in pain or unable to move. _Crap, I didn't expect to die like this... I should have died with a smile on my face... _Her eyes darkened as the sky began to blur, making her lose consciousness. _But I have no regrets..._

_..._

_"Patrols seven, ten, eleven, and thirteen, go cure Captain Komamura!" _An unfamiliar voice yelled.

Orange.

That was the first thing that Tahani saw when she opened her eyes and regained consciousness. As she saw the sky, she had two theories – one was that she had died and the next life was going to be dealing with more Ichigo (who was also dead) or the other and possibly the more sensible theory was that she was still alive in Soul Society - time had just gone quickly as she passed out.

"How... am I not dead?" Tahani questioned quietly, furrowing her brow at the wounds she received. She looked over and noticed that one of the unseated officers from the fourth division were healing her wounds and said nothing to her.

"Fourth seat, we have finished the major conflict of your injuries and now we're patching up the scratches." The unknown shinigami stated, continuing onwards with their healing technique. At first Tahani accepted that and laid back down to stare at the sky, but suddenly everything came rushing back to her.

"Wait a minute!" Tahani forcibly pushed herself up, wincing as she stared at the shinigami. "What happened with Aizen? Did ya guys help Renji and Ichigo? Is Laria Alfero alive-?" She suddenly felt herself stopping as a sharp pain went through her chest, indicating that she may be alive it didn't mean that her wounds had not healed.

"Slow down fourth seat!" The healer tried pushing her back down, making Tahani growl back with a scowl, "You're injuries may have been stable, but it doesn't mean that you should be forcing yourself back up again!" He scolded, working on the reopened chest wound. "Aizen with Ichimaru and Tosen has escaped to Hueco Mundo. Lieutenant Abarai and the ryoka are getting treatments as we speak. Third seat Alfero is now stable – she's resting in the fourth division."

Tahani's eyes softened, however she was annoyed that Aizen managed to escape. She clenched her fist, focusing her annoyance on her the sky, "Well... at least Laria survived."

"Damn this wound opened up more than I thought... Fourth seat, you might need to head to the barracks so that we can get an expert." Tahani felt sick at the sudden motion of being lifted into the air but she realised that she was held in a stretcher. Her vision turned blurry again, tilting her head to see a flash of red carried with her.

_Come to think of it_. When she saw that red was all this drama with Rukia Kuchiki began. What happened with Rukia anyways? A weak chuckle escaped Tahani's lips as she lost consciousness and faded out.

**_*One week later*_**

Life was relatively healthy back in Seireitei, seeing that the ryoka were recovering from any wounds that they may have received from the captains. After the betrayal deal, the eleventh division went back in its normal state.

That's what Tahani had observed when she saw someone flying out of the window of the dojo. It seemed that Ikkaku was getting warmed up for his massive sparring matches. The woman entered the dojo, spotting that they were a group of men sitting down like they were frightened of the bald third seat.

"Are you serious? No one wants to challenge me?"

Tahani cocked an eyebrow, folding her arms over her chest as she smirked. Well there's no helping it. She was doomed to deal with it eventually.

"I'll go next!"

Ikkaku turned to face Tahani, his eyes showing signs of recognition. "Are you sure Rosa, we all know the outcome of this fight-!" He was cut off by ducking a figure who crashed into the wall. "You can't fly kick me anymore Rosa!" Tahani jumped back to her feet with a confident sneer.

"Alright stupid Baldy, we all know that ya just making up lame excuses so ya wouldn't hit an innocent girl." She chuckled when she saw the vein pulsing on Ikkaku's shiny head. He was so easy to taunt, sometimes Tahani wondered why she preferred to pick on Renji.

"You bitch!" The third seat seethed, passing her a bokken and by passing, I really mean throwing it towards her direction. Tahani let out a startled cry of shock, before her hands wrapped around the wooden weapon. "Alright, you're on."

They started at each other for a few slow seconds. These seconds were slow enough for Tahani to get detail that Ikkaku wasn't even breaking a sweat. Ikkaku let out a loud war cry as he charged, trying to slash Tahani from the top but she jumped back to dodge. Once she saw that Ikkaku swung, she dashed towards the third seat and tried to take another hit but he was fast enough to block her attack. Ikkaku struck her stomach, which made Tahani crash into the wall. She collapsed towards the ground, but only tightened the grip that she had with a smirk.

"I'm not done yet!" She cried out, sneering proudly.

"Thank the Spirit King that would've been too boring!" Ikkaku retorted

The audience from the eleventh division had watched back and forth as the duo fought, listening to the loud cries from both parties.

Her feet bounced from the ground and she tried to strike the back of Ikkaku's legs but he flipped over her to whack her back with his weapon. The wound that was still recovering had made Tahani yelp and by the time she got a chance to the groun,d he had kicked her in the stomach to send her flying into the wall once again.

"Ow..." Tahani moaned, rubbing her head for colliding into the wall, "That hadn't been the brightest idea I had."

It seemed that Ikkaku had already taken an interest into asking anyone else if they were going to challenge him and it seemed like someone would've taken up the challenge.

"There's no helping it," Ichigo muttered as he appeared in the scene. Huh, he must've gotten sick of Rukia or something. Actually, were those two having some sort of lover's relationship? It just seemed like they were an old married couple.

Don't let either of them find out that she thought they were going out. Even if they weren't going out, it would be to at least say that they have romantic feelings for each other.

"Well that takes a lotta nerve Ichigo!" Ikkaku sneered, holding his little bokken over his shoulder as Tahani stood back up with a scowl. "Even though you just got out of the sickbed, I'm not going to hold back on you!"

"We both just got out of the sickbed," Ichigo corrected with a blank stare, "And besides I wasn't sick, I was just injured."

Oh no, Tahani's senses were tingling.

"That's the same thing!" The third seat retorted back with a scowl, "When you recover from being sick, you guys call it _leaving the sickbed._"

There Ichigo went with another pointless argument. He really liked to set fire to the firecrackers of Soul Society didn't he? Sheesh, if Ichigo ever had a conversation to Yumichika about beauty products... Tahani would be heading to the gates of Hell to avoid any means of the topics.

"Guys-"

"You do not!" Ichigo snapped, his face now matching Ikkaku's.

"Then say what is when you've just recovered from your injuries?"

"Well you know it's... I don't know."

Tahani's brow deepened in annoyance, "Come on guys! Some of us want a turn!"

"See even Rosa agrees with me," Does anyone listen to her? "And the loudmouth doesn't agree with anyone!"

One of the many rules of being in the eleventh division if you don't want to get hurt. One: Do not touch Yachiru's candy. Two: Do not call Ikkaku Baldy unless you were brave enough to encounter his wrath. Three: Taking Yumichika's hair products was forbidden. Four: Calling Tahani the following a loudmouth or psychopath will lead to a woman's wrath.

"I'll kill ya!" Tahani grinned darkly, hauling the bokken into sight, "Ya not really the one to talk, Baldy!"

Ikkaku glared towards Tahani's direction, determined to win this battle about pointless arguments. "What the hell is with your grammar? You should just study it, morons!"

"Says the guy who shaves his own head!" Tahani retorted with a dark sneer.

"Even though there's nothing on it!" Ichigo agreed and in that instant he raised his hand next to Tahani to receive a high-five.

A shine from Ikkaku's head made Tahani shield her eyes from the bright light. "I know what we're gonna do!" He pointed his bokken in the direction of the duo with a sneer, "Whoever wins this is the one who is correct!"

"Fine bring it on!" Ichigo snapped, snatching the bokken out of Tahani's hands. She gave him a glare as he pointed the wooden weapon towards Ikkaku. He held up his fist and stared at the ceiling dramatically, "I'll prove to you that I am the best with my language skills!"

He did realise how stupid he sounded... right? The males began their dual, clacking their weapons towards each other before the door slid opened.

_"Hey." _Tahani looked over to the rest of her division, seeing that they bowed dramatically towards the new arrival.

"_Good morning Captain Zaraki!"_

The captain ignored the subordinates and turned to Ichigo with a devious glint in his hungry eye, "Well, well... Ichigo is here."

Yachiru poked her head on the scene and waved towards the orange haired shinigami, "Good morning Ichi!"

"So what, your injuries are all fixed up?"

Of course, Kenpachi was the kind of guy to ask if Ichigo had no more wounds. He was probably going to slash the crap out of Ichigo, which made Tahani lose her chance to fight Ichigo. Wait, didn't she already establish the fact she won't be fighting him anyways? Oh well, a girl could dream - until he gave her a fight, she was going to keep saying that he owed her a match.

"Yep! Thanks to you, I'm completely healed from all-!" The bokken that Ichigo was once holding had suddenly sliced in half and he gave an odd look towards the bloodthirsty captain.

"That's excellent, now we can enjoy our fight..." Kenpachi sneered with his jagged zanpakuto out and pointed towards the kid. "Without holding back!" He let out a growl of satisfaction, slicing his weapon down to cut Ichigo but the reiatsu was too much for the dojo to handle and smashed the windows.

"Ya do realise that the Head Captain's gonna bother us again with this, right?" Tahani looked over to Kenpachi with folded arms. He was either not caring or too busy into taking any focus on her as he searched silently for the little strawberry. Jeez, for someone who was willing to fight Aizen a week ago, he was such a little girl. Laria probably had more courage fighting Kenpachi, even though she would've logically stated that she wouldn't dare to challenge the captain. At the thoughts of Laria, Tahani's eyes narrowed and she glared at the ground.

Once the smoke disappeared, Ikkaku had his face planted in the middle of the crater that Kenpachi created, his leg twitching slightly.

"Crush him..."

"That ain't him," Kenpachi growled in annoyance looking around the room for a flash of orange. "I'm gonna think about this..."

"Ken-chan, he's out there!" Yachiru chanted, pointing out of the window to show that Ichigo was running for the hills. By this time, Tahani had decided that she was going to head out for a nice little walk to visit a certain someone.

_Now that everything is beginning to bloom, I should start training again..._ Tahani stared at the path in front of her, relying on a distant memory to take over so that she could begin training.

_"Ichigo! You're not gonna get away!"_

-:-

_Laria-chan, I can tell you've been through a lot..._ Hozumi narrowed his eyes sadly, placing the white flower on the side table. He wasn't really sure on his meanings of flowers, but he knew all sorts of girls loved them. It was meant to be the day of her discharge, but she would not leave until Captain Unohana or Isane had given the third seat an observation.

Laria didn't need to have any machines, she had only suffered a wound through her stomach and needed immediate attention. He had visited her on other occasions and Laria had been awake for most of the time, but she seemed to be sleeping more often. She had once mentioned to Hozumi that she would sleep in during the day, it was the way she worked and quite frankly... it was rather strange.

For some reason, Hozumi found it rather peaceful but dismaying to see her asleep. Her chest would rise slowly as she inhaled and sank as she let out a shaky exhale. Sometimes her face would scrunch uncomfortably; as if the young third seat was suffering through a nightmare alone and other times her face would be just as it was at that moment. She wore the look of relaxation and it appeared that she knew that everyone she cared about was alright – injured, but alive.

Honestly, Hozumi had no clue on how to act after Aizen and his followers rebelled against Soul Society. He did see Laria train with the captain on occasion and he did not bother to mention it out loud. It wasn't like it mattered, Laria was only trying to impress Captain Hitsugaya. What really made Hozumi see red, was the fact that Aizen practically use that as an opportunity and harmed her. The previous captain even tried disposing of his own lieutenant!

Even though he wasn't close with other captains, Hozumi always thought Aizen as a kind and respectful man. It turned out looks can really be as deceiving as everyone said they were. No wonder everyone was wary of him before they got to know him. He sighed again, checking Laria's temperature before setting his grey eyes towards the window.

_"I hear you're the ninth seat!"_ _Hozumi showed a grin towards the smaller girl, who had halted in confusion to look at the man, "I'm Hozumi Aoki, the no seat of the tenth division! We should be best friends!" His grin widened at the short girl with a low ponytail and childish bangs over her forehead._

_The look that the girl had given him was priceless. Her chestnut eyes were wide, mouth slightly parted that mirrored the image of a gaping fish. She then composed herself and bowed with an impassive nod._

_"My name is Laria Alfero, it's my pleasure." The ninth seat replied quietly, shying her eyes away from the taller male before another familiar face._

_"Alfero, you're needed." Infamous Toshiro Hitsugaya appeared behind Hozumi, making him yelp in fright. It was normal for the white haired boy to appear out of nowhere, but it still freaked him out that a tiny pipsqueak managed to surpass him._

_"Right Hitsugaya-kun," Laria bowed with a faint smile, running past the white haired boy head into the captain's office. _

_"You frightened me, Toshiro-kun!" Hozumi complained, with comical tears streaming down his face._

_"It's Third Seat Hitsugaya to you, Aoki." _

"Aoki..." Hozumi had to turn around with wide eyes, noticing Captain Hitsugaya standing by the entrance of the room with a scowl. During the week of his visits, not once Hozumi had seen the small captain enter Laria's room. He had passed by often, but that was only to visit Momo. Not once did he spend any time looking towards the third seat that could have died because of her admiration for _him_. "Why are you here?"

Was the captain seriously asking him that? "Captain, I came here because Laria-chan is my friend!" He answered, looking back toward the unconscious brunette, "Laria-chan is amazing and she works hard... You should consider yourself lucky to have someone to look out for you like she did; it's good to have her watching your back."

The captain gave him a cold stare, before his eyes softened on Laria's sleeping face. "So she did come back to help me..." It was an observation to himself more than to the unseated officer. He had a scowl when he turned around, but Hozumi automatically called him. This stopped the captain from moving and faced the taller man.

"Captain, why are you here...? You know that Laria sleeps at this time of the day, unless you had been purposely seeing her when she's asleep."

"Don't be foolish." Toshiro muttered coldly, turning away from Hozumi immediately, "I want you to hand in some paperwork when you get back with her." Once he gave her another strange look, the captain headed out of the room and disappeared from Hozumi's sight. Hozumi smiled widely at his captain's words, not failing to spot the faint embarrassed blush on his cheeks. It was so cute that the captain was worried about her.

His head tilted back towards Laria when he heard a yawn, seeing that Laria was waking up from her sleep. She sluggishly opened her eyes and looked towards the unseated officer, not recognising at first before her eyes darkened in realisation.

"Aoki-san..."

"Good afternoon, Laria-chan..." Hozumi replied with his childish grin, smiling wider when he saw Laria turn away and focus on the wall in front of her.

"So today's the day I get out?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad..." Laria's eyes softened at the thought, before she turned to Hozumi with confused eyes. "When you fought Omaeda-san a week ago... did you use it?"

Hozumi raised an eyebrow towards his companion's direction before he smiled faintly, "No I didn't." She lowered her head away, silently whispering that she was glad that he did not do anything drastic.

After a moment of silence, Laria tightened the hold she had on the blankets. "I'm going to train once I get out..." The third seat decided boldly, "I won't let anything happen to him again."

Hozumi's eyebrow rose in confusion, "Huh?"

"I wasn't strong enough to fight against him..." Laria responded coldly, glaring at the sheets, "I'm not going to let him get away with what he did to Captain Hitsugaya." She looked back at him seriously, which only made Hozumi frown with worry, "Or Tahani."

Was it strange to Hozumi that Laria had mentioned her captain first? Usually Laria would talk about Tahani more than her captain. That must mean – "Laria-chan... do you like our captain?"

The third seat gave a confused stare towards Hozumi, blinking silently at the man, "Of course I like the captain, I admire him." Poor naive Laria, she had no clue on what Hozumi was implying.

"Oh no, I don't mean it like _that_." Hozumi chuckled darkly; a glint sparkled in his grey eyes, "I'm asking, if you have... you know a little crush on the icy prodigy?"

That got the brunette's attention.

Laria's reaction was definitely priceless. Her eyes looked wider than dinner plates with a dropped jaw and a twitch from her left eyebrow. It was rather amusing watching Laria act like that, it gets her every time Hozumi mentioned it.

"Why would you assume such thing?" Laria growled, her face turning back into a scowl. "I've told you once, and I'll tell you again – I don't do romantic feelings, especially for my captain." She glared back at the sheets, "It's just... when Captain Hitsugaya was on the ground and bleeding to death... I wanted to kill Aizen, more than anything. I've grown to admire the captain because he is smart, skilful and he may not show it but he is kind compared to the others. I admit that he is cold, however that is just because he's closed off from everyone... I can see why..."Her tiny fists tightened on the sheets, anger bubbling in the put of her stomach at the bitter memories.

Hozumi reached up to pat Laria's shoulder, seeing that he may have crossed the line again. He winced when he felt her arms stiffen from the contact and the unseated officer realised that Laria was not used to physical contact. "I'm sorry, Laria-chan... I shouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it Aoki-san." Laria responded instantly, cutting Hozumi off. He blinked silently as he heard her voice, noticing that it was strained to continue, "As the humans would save in the living world: _there's no use crying over split milk._"

_Laria-chan is feeling guilty..._ The unseated officer realised, seeing that Laria had stood onto her feet with a determined glare. _All she wants to do is get stronger so that she doesn't rely on anyone. Not Tahani-chan, not her captain... not even me..._

**Omake-**

**Tahani: Yes! *Fist pumps* Soul Society arc is now over!**

**Laria: -_-' It doesn't mean that the story is over - in fact, there is a rough estimation with the story and we aren't even close to it**

**Tahani: ... Huh? O.e How many chapters are there on this?**

**Laria: A rough estimate - around 100 chapters**

**Hozumi: Wha? Q_Q You mean-**

**Laria: That's right, Agua hasn't even gotten past the half way point**

**Agua: You make it sound like I'm being lazy, don't forget I've still got Hidden World to write as well -_- I write at least one chapter for both stories a week and its not easy when I try making most chapters 3000 words minimum **

**Tahani: Well, could ya at least tell us what's happening next?! Are we gonna follow that Bount arc like I've been hearing?**

**Agua: Oh, that... Yes and No**

**Tahani: Huh?**

**Agua: There will be mentions of the Bounts, however there will be a back story just for the three of you**

**Hozumi: D; Aw... that means work...**

**Agua: ... Anyways, the next chapter will be out next fortnight - I kinda want a break :D see you then!**

**Please review**

**_30/09/2013 - Happy birthday to my eldest niece Manaia... _**


	12. Chapter 11: Mission

**A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. Okay - last week was one of my biggest week's of this month. I swear, starting up work again really did something to me, speaking of which I keep screwing up at work. It's not the good kind either, it hasn't been clicking like it normally does - I don't know what's wrong Dx**

**But anyways, let's ignore that and continue shall we? Just to remind everyone, this is set during the Bount Arc but there won't be many referenced to the Bounts. Okay? Okay, let'sa go! *Mario jump* **

**Disclaimer: Agua the Awesome A.k.a Luafua cannot and will not own bleach, or any of its franchise. It belongs to Kubo, and Kubo only. In fact, the only thing that I own are the Oc's. I also own the cover image except for the logo, which is on a site I would post up here but fanfiction doesn't allow links and all that jazz**

**WARNING: There is a little bit of swearing, but hopefully nothing too bad for our readers – thank you. **

**Chapter 11: Mission**

The air was heavy with two surges of reiatsu overcame one of the many forests in Western Rukongai. Soul Society paid no attention in these forests, and let life form naturally in the earth. A brunette figure appeared in sight, narrowing her chestnut orbs as she lifted the steel coated blade in front of her to block a brutal attack from the offender. A smirk grew on the figure that owned raven hair, pushing down hard so that the brunette will stumble on her feet.

Stumble on her feet the brunette did, her eyes widened in brief surprise; trying to find a way to go around the attack but another strike from the attacker sent her flying off her feet to crash into a tree. A snort came from the raven haired woman as she stood tall, holding her own blade over her shoulder.

"You're not focused Laria, what's on yer mind?" Tahani wondered with an all-knowing sneer, the same signature sneer that she would have when she would show whenever she was winning. Of course this only made Laria stand up swiftly, her face was stern and her eyes were locked with Tahani's. The fourth seat raised an eyebrow in confusion, noticing that Laria was too distracted to be training.

"Stop assuming the worst Tahani," Laria responded coldly, ignoring the sharp pain burying itself in her back from the previous attack and raising Tsuki okami again to charge at Tahani. She let out a war cry, using shunpo to attack from behind, however Tahani had already seen the attack coming and blocked it with a smirk.

"Now, now Laria - don't ya think I wouldn't have asked if I believed ya?" With a flick of her wrist, Laria was pushed back into the air. Her eyes had hardened with annoyance, before she raised her free hand in front of her face. As it started to glow faint red, Tahani instantly realised on Laria's next intentions. "Holy cra-!"

"Shakkaho!"

Tahani's eyes widened as the dangerous red ball of energy darted her way. Considering that Laria was much better at using kido that using a sword didn't help the situation. The kido blasted behind Tahani as she jumped away for safety, but Laria was in front of her with her hand out.

"Shakkaho."

Tahani raised her blade in front of her, she couldn't dodge the attack so she might as well go through it, "Hunt 'em down, Aisutaiga!" Upon command, the single blade had turned into two daggers and it gave Tahani enough time to raise them in front of her face and rebound them off her new enhanced weapons of death.

Laria dodged her rebounded attack and distanced herself away from Tahani, her eyes observing the fourth seat's faster movements. It was a special ability that came with the zanpakuto that Tahani raised her speed when she released her weapon. Most of the time, the release would catch everyone off guard and Tahani would now be four times faster than Laria was. She gritted her teeth in annoyance, blocking another attack from Tahani who had smirked darkly.

"Why not use kido anymore?" Tahani wondered snidely, finding an opening and plunging her blade into Laria's ribs. Luckily for the brunette, she managed to use shunpo before the wound got too deep and held her hand on the small gash showing by her side. The cut, despite its tiny size it burned due to the dropping temperature. Another one of Aisutaiga's abilities was every cut it made gave the muscle a frozen reaction to it so the wound would only get worse as time wore on.

Her hand covered the wound, a scowl formed on her face as Laria raised the blade horizontally to point towards Tahani. "If you think that using kido would stop you, then you weren't as strong as I thought you were."

Tahani growled with excitement, rushing forward to get up close and personal to prevent Laria using kido. She knew that Laria is taunting her, and she knew very well that Laria could defeat her by using kido. Kido was a scary, dangerous thing at the hands of a master like her. Laria lunged forward; nicking Tahani's left shoulder before her daggers locked the blade in place. The raven haired woman smirked proudly, lifting her daggers so that she could yank Tsuki okami out of Laria's grip and send it over her head. Just as she did that, Laria narrowed her eyes, removing her hand from the side and pointed towards Tahani's left shoulder.

"Hado four: Byakurai." A bolt of light appeared from Laria's fingers and struck Tahani through the same shoulder that she was previously injured in before. Tahani let out a yelp, flinging her daggers into the air to nurse the new injury. She cursed when the scarlet liquid filled her hands - she was not expecting Laria to do that!

Laria narrowed her eyes sharply, using shunpo to get past Tahani and pick up her blade. Before she could prepare herself for another attack, Tahani caught one of the daggers with her good arm and slammed the weapon roughly against Laria. The raven haired woman had always been stronger than Laria, easily overpowering her from the attack.

A wince came from Laria when she remembered the slash from earlier; constantly reminding her that it wasn't going to stop any time soon. She knew that she needed to get Tahani away, but the brunette didn't know how to distance herself away.

"Come on Laria, ya can do better than that!" Tahani taunted, her smirk expanding when Laria let out an angered scoff. No, she couldn't move from her position, she would have to do something she hasn't tried before. Laria focused on pouring the reiatsu on her blade, letting it shimmer a silvery light as it powered up.

This surprised Tahani, her eyes picked up in the blade but it was suddenly yanked from her. Tahani's eyes widened in shock, nearly losing her footing in the position that she was but the fourth seat recovered from the action early, preparing a swift strike from her partner.

Laria used her reiatsu to add power into her attack, and this officially knocked Tahani off her feet. She let out a surprised yell, landing on her bottom which gave Laria the opportunity to finally do it. Raising Tsuki okami in the air, Laria's reiatsu stirred from her body and shot up drastically.

"Reflect your light, Tsuki okami!" The zanpakuto turned pure white and divided itself into two swords. Tahani saw the release, noticing the difference in power and hopped onto her feet to charge at the brunette. She definitely had to get Laria close now! "Tsukisofu!" Laria commanded fiercely, sending an energy blast of black and white power towards Tahani however the taller woman used shunpo to move out of the way, which resulted in a huge power explosion in the background.

"Geez, that attack is crazier than ever!" Tahani mused, picking up her other dagger before wincing slightly. That injury hurt like a little bitch. She looked up, noticing that Laria had prepared for another Tsukisofu and sent the attack directly towards the raven haired woman. The fourth seat raised her reiatsu and fought back the aura with her two tiny daggers. It was powerful, but it wasn't as strong as the first one because Laria used just a moment ago.

She gritted her teeth, forcing back the attack with a war cry and let the attack explode in front of her, which knocked her off her feet and sent her flying in the air. Tahani's eyes widened once she saw Laria purposely shatter the fragile sword and point towards the fourth seat with a yellow light forming in her hand. Her feet planted on the ground, directly charging at Laria again.

"Bakudo thirty, Shitotsu Sansen!"

The three miniature triangles shot themselves out of the larger one and headed straight towards Tahani. She realised that she was too far to reach Laria on time and looked behind her to see the large tree that she was going to implant into, her smirk grew faintly. So this was a loss?

"Hiya guys~" Hozumi sang as he appeared right in the middle of the battlefield, waving in Tahani's direction. Both girls widened their eyes in horror at the sight of the unseated officer. There he was, standing in the middle of a dangerous fight that could possibly injure him or worse?

"Hozumi, move ya moron!" Tahani snapped furiously, firmly planting her feet into the ground to halt her movements. Laria narrowed her eyes, and looked like she was about to face palm herself from the sheer stupidity from the subordinate. How did he graduate again?

The man pouted childishly and folded his arms as he slowly turned towards Laria, oblivious to the bakudo heading his way, "Don't be rude Tahani-chan, I was only trying to be nice-WAH!" He was suddenly bound by a three triangles that Laria formed. She was intending on getting Tahani, but no... the fool had to jump in the way… didn't he? Before he could collide with Tahani, she moved out of the way, only to see him slam into the tree. His head smacked against the tree, which was going to give him a bigger pain than a hangover.

"Ya dumbass…"

Hozumi had spoken too soon.

Tahani was mad alright, yeah sure it prevented her loss but it didn't prove that Laria was capable of defeating her. What kind of Shinigami wentrunning in the middle of a fight? Thank Spirit King that he wasn't in the eleventh division, he would've died in the first minute.

Hozumi could only let out an innocent chuckle at the sneering fourth seat with a dark glint in her eyes.

-:-

"Are ya stupid?"

"Ow, of course not! OW!"

"What are ya then? Because I know even a brainless hollow wouldn't go in the middle of a fight!"

"But I didn't think that you and Laria-chan would be fight so seriously - OW!"

"I'm from the ELEVENTH DIVISION idiot! I'm gonna go full out!"

Laria ignored the fact that Tahani was slamming a fist into Hozumi's gut as he tried to break out of the bakudo but found it futile. Getting beaten up by an enraged woman wasn't going to get him out. He was just going to have to deal with bumps bigger than his head, besides that was the least of his worries.

Hozumi couldn't stand lectures, and Laria was definitely going to give him a lecture for his foolishness. Had he not been focused on the fight that the two females were having? Sensing out a battle would've been no problems for the unseated officer.

Comical tears rushed down Hozumi's bruised face, and then Tahani picked him up from the front of his shihakusho and proceeded to slap his face silly.

"Laria-chan! HELP!" He screeched, eyes now swirling in comical swirls, "I promise to do the paperwork and your paperwork this week!"

This seemed to interest Laria, her eyebrow raised in curiosity as she saw more tears from the man. If he at least done the paperwork, it would mean less for her and the captain and that would be less stressful for her. Her eyes closed calmly and she released the bind that Hozumi had. He grinned in realisation at first, and then he saw that Laria had no intention on helping him fend off Tahani.

"Wait! Laria-chan! Ow! You said you would help me!" Hozumi yelped, now using arms to protect his face from the raven haired woman.

"You never said to stop Tahani, you needed my help so you got my help releasing the bakudo you had on you." Laria commented flatly as she returned her zanpakuto into its sheath. With the weapon now safely secure, Laria narrowed her eyes when she heard another girlish shriek from the man. Is he really male?

"Okay, okay! I promise to do it for three weeks!"

Now that was a deal that Laria couldn't help but smirk at, Hozumi was definitely desperate if he wanted Laria to help him. When she gave a look towards Tahani, the woman paused before dropping silently Hozumi towards the ground and went to retrieve her daggers.

"Stupid hedgehog."

The reason of Tahani's insult to Hozumi, simple - Hozumi had wild messy hair with some of the strands looking like they could defy gravity. It gave a spiky result, which made the fourth seat come up with the brand new nickname. Laria sometimes wondered if she and Yachiru were related somehow, considering that they made up nicknames for their comrades.

Hozumi let out a wounded moan, crawling on his hands and knees. His head tilted when he noticed Laria cringe, and look down at the wound that she received from Tahani. Speaking of the wounds, he also noted that Tahani had a fresh wound on her shoulder. The male furrowed his brow in confusion - had both women managed to inflict enough damage on each other?

Laria sighed in annoyance, walking to Tahani to heal the shoulder wound that she received. The hado had pierced through her shoulder, however the kido had been too weak to go completely through which was a slight relief for the brunette. She may be able to heal, but Laria was no expert in healing - healing significant wounds would be too far for her level.

"So, Aoki-san… why did you come charging recklessly into a fight?" The brunette questioned, letting the bluish green light do the work of healing wonders. Tahani seemed to be curious about Hozumi's intentions as well and gave a curious look to the unseated officer.

As if it had been magic, Hozumi stood on his feet instantly and grinned in realisation. "That's right! I came here because Captain wanted to speak the three of us!"

The raven haired woman turned to give Hozumi a sceptical expression. "Why would Hitsugaya wanna talk with me?"

Hozumi held his chin in deep thought as his thick brows drew together to form a frown, "I didn't ask myself, but if Captain Hitsugaya wanted the three of us, I think it's kinda serious." He stated, looking away with a distant look in his eye. The trio had fallen silent; save for Laria's healing but after the third seat found the wound closed, she let that go as well.

Laria felt like she had distanced herself from the captain since Aizen had betrayed Soul Society. She had been too weak, unable to fight for her captain's life before Aizen had pierced his blade inside her stomach like a knife through soft butter. Captain Hitsugaya had not spoken to her much about it, but she couldn't help but feel guilt and rage spiralling in her gut. It was only best for her to give him the space that he needed so that he could figure things out on his own.

"Then we should go," Laria looked over to Tahani who had a gentle smirk on her face, as always. How come it was so hard for Laria to have a smirk or a smile on her face, when her best friend could do it like it was breathing? "We wouldn't want ta keep him waiting, now would we?"

-:-

Hitsugaya let out an even sigh, scowling darkly at the paperwork that Aoki was meant to complete. The foolish man probably rushed to get Alfero and Rosa because if he had stayed then he would've gotten a scolding for his laziness.

At least he wasn't a complete and utter idiot like most thought he was. It wasn't like Aoki would go run in the middle of a battle, in fact Hitsugaya doubted anyone was that stupid.

With Matsumoto quietly filling out her paperwork back in her own room, Alfero training with Rosa, Hitsugaya found himself able to do his own paperwork, however one report caught his eye. Aoki had meant to give this to Alfero, but Hitsugaya took a peek at it anyways.

The report was issued the week before the ryoka invasion, and though he was muttering curses to Aoki he realised that now this would be essential for Soul Society itself. That's when Aoki went to go get the duo from their training session. He just hoped that Alfero hadn't been wounded when she returned, he needed someone of her rank to go do this mission immediately.

It also felt as if Alfero had acted differently to him since Aizen's rebellion. She still worked when she needed to, and owed to him the respect but she was often leaving immediately as soon as she was finished her work. Before the entire crises happened, Alfero would always give Hitsugaya a reassuring smile before leaving but now she would barely look at him.

It seemed that the third, fifth and ninth divisions weren't the only ones affected by Aizen's betrayal. After all, Alfero had been Aizen's friend and she learnt how to fight with a zanpakuto because of him, but that gave her the biggest opening after Hinamori. Aizen knew all her moves, and could easily predict each attack. Alfero's moves were a lot sloppier since she had gone into a blind rage, but Hitsugaya was still baffled about her reaction into seeing her own captain go down.

His hand clenched unconsciously, glaring at the sheet in front of him. Aizen will regret, everything that he had done to his friends… wait… did he jut admit that Alfero was his friend? No, she was his loyal third seat, the same girl that nearly got killed by both Aizen and Ichimaru.

A knock from the outside made Hitsugaya snap his head towards the sound, scowling darkly when Rosa slid the door open with a smirk on her face, a mischievous twinkle in her midnight gaze. Following after the raven haired woman, Alfero and Aoki had entered the room with apologetic looks towards their captain.

"Here they are sir~!" Aoki declared proudly, raising his hand above both their heads. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow when he saw Alfero avoiding his stare, it was odd - almost two weeks ago and she was standing up to him but now she looked like the same girl who had just joined the tenth division.

The captain stood up calmly, giving Alfero the main report. Once she had briefed over the paper, her eyes widened slightly and gave a stunned look towards Hitsugaya. Well, not the reaction he was expecting from her, "We got a report a while back about a study group of Shinigami to do basic research between hollow and Shinigami reiatsu. I've spoken about this to the Head Captain and he's decided that the three of you will go to eleventh district of Western Rukongai to investigate this base and bring back anything that looks remotely suspicious."

"But Captain Hitsugaya…" Rosa spoke up with a confused frown on her face, "Isn't this something that the Twelfth Division should be working on a mission like this?"

"I had thought of the same thing," Hitsugaya confessed, turning away from the group. "However, when we spoke about it in the meeting, it turns out that this group wasn't assigned by Korutsuchi…" He glanced back at the group, watching Alfero's eyes widen at the words.

"This was assigned by Aizen!" His third seat realised, tightening her grip on the paper. She clenched her jaw, keeping a low growl under her throat. Rosa had narrowed her eyes darkly at the thought of Aizen, while Aoki had a concerned frown on his face. "It would've made no suspicion back then because Aizen wasn't… And Central forty-six were massacred; we just assumed it was normal..." Alfero looked like she wanted to tear the paper in to shreds but before she could do anything, Hitsugaya grabbed her wrist. The look that she gave him was priceless; her eyes were uncharacteristically wide with shock and her lips had been parted slightly.

"Alfero," Hitsugaya muttered as if she had been in that room. Her chestnut eyes blinked at him, almost as if she was trying to see if this was really a dream or not. He had to admit that staring in her eyes was almost nostalgic, as if he had seen them before he became a Shinigami. Had they always looked so familiar? "I'm putting my trust in you to figure this out." When he released her hand, the warmth from his skin disappeared; after all she didn't have icy cold skin like he had. His turquoise gaze moved away from her eyes, looking anywhere else _but _her eyes.

Alfero looked like she had just learnt the meaning of life through his stare. Her eyes narrowed, back into the determined stare he was use to seeing. She bowed her head in response, ignoring the wide smirks of her taller comrades.

**A/n: As you can see, this story is going to make its turn. Anyways, I _might_ post next week - in fact I hope I do but it really depends on how work will treat me. I'm not saying they're being bullies - I just wish I knew why I'm screwing up so badly, this didn't happen when I had my first job. Maybe it had to do with me being extremely quiet - I don't know, if I did then I would slap myself *Literally* and tell myself to stop it and do well. Hopefully I'll manage but damn its hot during the day. **

**Please review**

**_14/10/2013 - Heat... the heat... *Drops dead*_**


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